Good
by GoldenHydrangea
Summary: 21 years after the events of wicked: Glinda has taken 4 magical students: her shy son, Elphias, the haughty daughter of a gilikinese nobleman, Amira, a Zebra named byra, and a talented homeless girl, Lana. But the students are not all as they seem...
1. Chapter 1

Lana had never worn anything like this in her life.

It was _silk_ , or some other expensive fabric like that, olive green at the top with a yellow-green skirt. Lana suspected the sash was made out of woven _gold_ , though she was hardly an expert on these things. She wore a necklace with a gold chain, and the jewel was a green diamond- or maybe it was an emerald? And her _hair_ , she didn't know how to describe the style, but it was, like the rest of her outfit, beautiful and contained gold and green. She felt like Cinderella on the way to the ball. The man- er, scarecrow, who walked beside her was her fairy godmother, he had purchased all this- well, actually, he was a hero of Oz and could get basically anything he wanted for free but the point was that he had made all this possible.

And the Emerald city! They were walking through it at this moment. She had heard stories about it, of course, but nothing could quite capture the hugeness of it, or the way that the- _energy_ of it seemed to infect her. The buildings were so tall that it hurt her eyes to try to look at the top. The city itself seemed to go on for forever, and yet she was far too excited to feel weary. She passed advertisements for all sorts of things that she didn't think were even possible, people literally dancing in the street, singing an odd mix of No one Mourns the Wicked, Ding Dong the Witch is dead, some sort of song the Emerald City itself, and some other song about it being the most happiest day of the year, which she didn't recognise. They stopped as she and the scarecrow passed, calling out things like "Oz bless you Master Scarecrow! Long live the Scarecrow! Over here Master Scarecrow!" And etc. The Scarecrow would occasionally nod at them, but mostly just plowed ahead towards the Emerald Palace, which was so tall that she had been able to see it when they had first entered.

And then they were at the Emerald Palace. To Lana, it seemed as if it were the size of a town or city itself. It filled her with a mixture of equal parts awe and fear, as the crowd parted to let them pass. As the Scarecrow walked up to the guard, said who they were, and then they were inside, and then they were in the grand ballroom itself…

Lana's first thought was that she had never imagined that there were so many shades of green, The window was large enough that the stars themselves seemed to be the backdrop of the room that was larger than any room had any right to be. The 21st anniversery of the death of the Wicked Witch was in full swing, all around her, Dancers sang and danced with wild, joyful abandon.

A man made out of tin and 3 lions ran out to greet them- well- the Scarecrow at least. After a long round of enthusiastic greetings came introductions.

"This is the tinman," the scarecrow gestured at the man made entirely out of metal. "and this is the courageous lion." He gestured at the biggest lion.

I knew that, of course, I had been hearing stories about them my entire life.

"And this is his wife, Leogra, and their son, Rion." He gestured at the other 2 lions. I hesitated, unsure what exactly was expected of me in this situation.

"And this is Lana."

The tinman reached out a hand, and Lana glanced at the Scarecrow, who nodded reassuringly, before she shook it.

The scarecrow explained, (though Lana wished that he hadn't) that she had been living on the streets up until a couple of days ago, when he had witnessed a magical outburst against a group of boys that had been harassing her. He had then decided to take her to the Emerald City, to see whether Queen Glinda would be willing to tutor her.

"That was awfully nice of you." Rion said when he was done.

He shrugged, an odd expression on his face that Lana couldn't interpret. "She reminded me of someone…"

The courageous lion smiled knowingly. "Dorothy?"

He blinked. "Uh, yeah."

"Well, Queen Glinda already has a zebra from the Quadlings as her apprentice, name's Byra, she's from the Quadling country." The tinman said.

"Is there a limit to these things?" Asked the Scarecrow.

"No idea."

And then they were talking about something else. Lana tuned them out, and the others were quite willing to ignore her, as she gawked at the scene that wrapped around her.

And then, on a raised dais came a middle-aged blonde woman, a man with auburn hair, and young man who looked to be about 18. The woman wore a dress with a bright pink bodice with flowing pink sleeves and 4 pink shapes over the skirt that resemble flower petals. The skirt and wide sash and gloves was emerald green. The colors should have clashed terribly, but somehow they looked good together. She wore a silver necklace, and a large green purse thingy with a pink flap. In her hair was a pink flower ornament. She held a large, silver wand, which also should have clashed with the rest of her outfit but also didn't. She was smiling brighter than anyone in the room, brighter than anyone else in the room. Perhaps Lana was imagining it, but there was something fake in its largeness. The man next to her with the auburn hair was dressed in a green suit, a dark green jacket with a lighter green shirt and black pants and boots. His eyes were bright green, and his cheeks were round and rosy. The man who looked to be only a little bit older than me was dressed similarly, and the first thing Lana noticed about him was that he was standing very, very straightly.

As the woman began to sing, the Scarecrow muttered to her "The woman is Queen Glinda Upland Chuffrey," (which she had guessed) "and the man next to her is her husband, Prince Shartine Chuffrey,-"

"He doesn't deserve her." the tinman muttered.

"They married for 20 years ago."

"Breaking hearts all over Oz."

"And the man in front of her is their son, Prince Elphias Chuffrey."

Lana nodded absent-mindedly, and listened to her singing. Instead of taking in the words, she let the sound wash over her. It was high, and almost pure in a way, slower than the song of the crowd. When the crowd joined in, it felt almost rude in a way, as if they were interrupting.

When the song finished, the entire cheered for quite some time. When they were done, she looked directly at Lana and her group, then said, "Would Dorothy's companions like to come up?"

She hesitated, as the Scarecrow, the Tinman, and the Courageous Lion started to walk, then the Scarecrow stopped, turned and beckoned at her to follow.

When they got to the dais, the Scarecrow explained the situation and his request that Queen Glinda tutor Lana, and she nodded chipperly. "I'll show her to her quarters, you can start the story without me."

And then they had left the ballroom, and it fully sunk in that _Glinda_ would be tutoring her, that she would be living in the Emerald Palace…

"I'm sorry, I just rushed you out of the room and it didn't even occur to me that you might want to hear the story…"

"Oh it's alright. I mean, everyone in Oz knows the story…"

She shook her wand. "Well, you'll be sharing a room with Byra, my other student, at least for now, I hope you don't mind?

"As long as she doesn't mind having her room invaded."

"Don't worry. She has a good heart."

Which didn't really answer her question.

"Alright, here we are." She took out a key and unlocked it. The room is soundproof, but you can ring that bell over there if you need anything. I'll probably be at the ball if you need me."

Lana gaped.

Room really wasn't the right word. Apartment might have been more appropriate, but the room- rooms were bigger than that too.

It occurred to Lana that she could go back to the ball, that the quarters would still be there when the ball was over, but her new quarters were immediate, and so she found herself unable to tear her attention away from them. The next couple of hours passed in a blur, but she ended up asleep on Byra's bed. (which was heaven.)

When she awoke, it was to find a zebra girl who she assumed was Byra sprawled across the bed. She still wore a bright yellow party dress, which she had apparently not bothered to change out of, and was sound asleep.

Lana continued to explore her quarters, but after a couple more hours of that, even she had started to get bored. She looked over at the clock, and saw that it was no longer morning, it was past 12th hour. When she walked out to the balcony, however, she found them eerily empty. Perhaps everybody was sleeping in- or having a hang-over.

She frowned. Now that she was part of palace life, was there somewhere she was expected to be? After a couple minutes of careful consideration, she decided that it was safe to find the palace library.

And of course, within a few minutes she was hopelessly lost.

She didn't know how she possibly could have thought that she could have found anything in this ginormous labyrinth, let alone a library to which she had never even been, or even been given directions on how to get to. She wasn't even sure where her room was- if she was, she would be there. She was prepared to admit defeat.

"You look lost."

She turned. It was Elphias.

"I am lost. I'm trying to find the library."

"You know how to read?" He blurted out. "Oh. Sorry." She felt my cheeks warm. Oz, why did _everyone_ need to know…

"I wasn't always living on the streets." she mumbled.

"Right."

There was an awkward silence.

"Well, would you like me to show you the way?"

"Yes. Thank you."

Lana and Elphias didn't talk on the way to the library, and after they arrived there, they quickly parted ways.

Lana quickly forgot the humiliation, however, as she lost herself in the Palace Library.

She must have spent at least 2 hours in there. She spent a considerable amount of time browsing the fantasy section, but she also checked out quite a few sorcery books, thinking that if she was going to study under _The Good Witch of the North_ , she should get a head start. She headed over to the history section as well. One book in particular caught her eye.

 **The Rise and Fall of the Wicked Witch of the West**

by Gregorius Caln

She felt a trickle of foreboding as she put her hand around the spine. She stood there for several moments, heart pounding, not able to quite name what exactly she was afraid of. Curiosity got the better of her, and she shoved it in her bag as fast as possible, almost feeling as if she ought to hide which book, exactly, she was taking.

It took her a long time to find her way back to her room, but when she did, she discovered that her new roommate was finally awake.

"Oh hello." The whole situation was unfamiliar to her, but she did her best to act politely. She wasn't sure how well she succeeded. "You must be Byra."

"And you must be Lana. Nice to meet you."

She hesitated, trying to decide the best thing to say to make a good impression. "I've never been to the emerald city before. It's amazing!"

Byra shrugged. "You get used to it after a while."

"I don't ever want to get used to it!" She burst out. Byra laughed, or perhaps neighed was a better word. Lana frowned, unsure of Byra's reaction.

"Are we supposed to meet Glinda or something? For lessons?" Lana asked nervously.

"Not today. It's vacation!"

"Oh." Having never gone to school, Lana didn't know when the vacations were. Seeing her confusion, Byra said,

"The last day is tomorrow, which is Homecoming Day, the day that Dorothy Gale went back home. It started a week before that, on Malaemortia, the day that Dorothy Gale came to Oz and crushed The Wicked Witch of the East with her house."

Lana blushed. "Right. Um-" She hesitated. "What are people saying- about me-"

"Who cares. There are people who are saying that The Queen is anti-human because her only student so far is an Animal."

"What?"

"I see we are in agreement."

They didn't end up talking much more about speciesism, but Lana felt something in her unravel. She had started to make her first friend here.


	2. Chapter 2

Ok, this is the last chapter but for some reason it came out wrong, so I'm trying again.

Disclaimer: The characters and world of Oz belong to Stephen Schwartz. Or Gregory Maguire. Or L Frank Baum. The point is that they don't belong to me. (Oh and this disclaimer goes for the last chapter to, where I forgot to place it.)

Elphias was certain he had no magical talent whatsoever.

He had said as much, many, many times, but it hadn't gotten him out of magic class. His mother insisted that everyone had _some_ talent, and some just had more than others, but what was really important was hard work. So he worked hard. And nothing ever happened.

He was the only boy in a class of 4, and suspected that the other 3 girls were being groomed to be the good witches of the West, East, and South. In addition to himself, Byra, and Lana there was now also Amira, who was from the Gillikin, who had arrived a week ago, and whom he despised. She had talent, much like Byra and Lana, but he knew that his mother had taken her as her student to appease the snotty, speciesist, wealthy aristocrats, as Amira herself was a snotty, speciecist, wealthy aristocrat.

As of right now, he was trying to levitate a marble. He was also trying to have a conversation with Lana.

"So, what did you do this weekend?" He asked.

"Oh, Byra and I went to explore the Emerald city some more!" She said excitedly. "Oh it's amazing, we could be here for a hundred years and never see all of it!" She went on, with great gusto, to explain how they had gone to a restaurant with a revolving top. As she talked, he concentrated on making eye contact with her, which made him nervous. Not the eye contact itself, but the fact that he was paying so much attention to getting his body language right, and he was afraid of messing up. He was supposed to look away sometimes, otherwise it would look like he was staring at her. He didn't want her to think that he was weird. Maybe he should try slouching, everyone else was slouching. He didn't want to look to stiff and formal. But his mother had drilled into him that good posture made him look more open. But he remembered how when he was a little kid he hadn't been able to make friends because he hadn't had any way to do so except find a child in the court he wanted to be friends with- for some arbitrary reason- and follow them around. Everywhere. He didn't want to make that mistake again.

He realized he had accidently allowed his eyes to glaze over, and blinked to clear it before Lana noticed. Great. Now that he was thinking about blinking, he had ended up blinking manually. He decided it was safe to break eye contact when he laughed at something she said, then met her eyes again. They were very dark, darker than her hair, which was unusual. He should ask a question. That way he would prove that he was interested. What would be a good one…?

His mother walked over, congratulated Lana, who had transformed a table into a fountain, and gave her her next task. Despite the fact that Lana had only been here for a month, she had quickly surpassed Byra, who had been training for two years, and Elphias himself, who had been training for ten. She told Elphias, for the three hundred twenty ninth time, that she didn't have much magic talent either but she had still been able to, over many years, become a capable witch, and that he mustn't be discouraged. He returned his attention to the marble, on trying to make it levitate. When he turned his attention to Lana, she was deep in conversation with Byra.

How was it that in the matter of a month, the two girls had developed such a clearly established friendship? Elphias couldn't wrap his head around it. Maybe it was that Lana was new. Yes, that was probably it. In books, the new kid in school was usually a social outcast but in his experience, everyone jumped at the chance to make friends with someone who was new, and therefore had an excuse for not having friends. Amira didn't have any friends in the class, but he didn't feel bad for her. He had tried to make friends with her and been rebuffed.

Lana managed to turn the entire, emerald room ruby red in 5 minutes, despite never having attempted to do so before. Then she turned it back in 2 minutes. Elphias's mother came over, looking downright amazed. After a few minutes, she asked,

"Are you a child of both worlds?"

That got Elphias's attention. He had heard stories about his mother's friend Elphaba, whom he had been named after. His mother had said that _she_ had been a child of both worlds.

Lana's face turned red, and she shrugged and mumbled that she didn't know. She did that whenever anyone referred to how she had been homeless before the Scarecrow had found her.

§

After lessons got out, Lana and Byra decided that they were going to explore the emerald city some more, and Elphias asked if he could go with them.

Elphias wasn't quite sure how they got into an argument with Amira.

They were leaving the musical they had been seeing, when they saw her coming out of Wizomania with a gaggle of friends.

"Interesting choice of entertainment!" Byra called.

Amira walked over.

"Do you have something against the Wizomania?" She asked

"Oh nothing. Just the minor detail that it's a propaganda piece that glorifies the man who _oppressed_ us, _put us in cages,_ and literally took away our ability to _speak_." Byra replied.

The wizard hadn't quite been discredited, per se, but he was no longer considered wonderful by the vast majority of the people. Through a combination of the fact that there was a whole generation who didn't even remember him, speciesm being seen by more by the citizens of Oz as something undesirable, and the general nature of people to criticize people portrayed as the 'good guys' of history, his reputation had become rather tarnished in the eyes of many. There was even talk of getting rid of, or changing, the holiday that celebrated the day the Wizard had first come to Oz.

"Touchy much, are we?"

"Touchy? TOUCHY!?"

"And anyway, beasts were better off then, we all were. Now they just-"

Without warning, Byra's hand shot out and her forefinger and thumb closed around a silver ring on Amira's finger. Before she could pull it off, however, Lana's finger had closed around Byra's wrist. Amira's eyes had suddenly grown wide, her lips had opened slightly, and her already pale skin was white, and she was actually trembling.

There was a moment's silence, then Lana spoke firmly. "Let go of the ring."

"Let go of me!"

"Let go of the ring."

Byra did. Lana released her.

Amira pulled both of her hands behind her back.

" _Bestia._ " She turned and left quickly.

Byra started after her, But Lana grabbed her again.

"What was that for?" Byra demanded.

"You shouldn't have gone for the ring. It was over the line."

" _I_ was over the line?"

"Just because Amira's a bitch doesn't mean that you should be a bitch back to her."

"What's special about the ring?" Elphias asked.

"It's enchanted." Lana said quietly. "It changes her appearance."

"I'm confused." Elphias said, wrinkling the skin above his eyes to show that he was.

"It's what makes her- well- gorgeous. She's not _hideous_ without it, she's just sort of- average looking." Lana answered

"But it doesn't matter what she looks like. What matters is how she treats Byra and the other Animals." Elphias insisted.

"I agree." Lana said simply.

"Do you and Byra use those too?"

They stared at him.

Byra shook her head emphatically. "I'm not that insecure."

Lana raised an eyebrow at that. But all she said was, "This is the sort of thing you use to get rid of acne. Which I have a lot of."

There was a silence.

"Are you alright?" Lana asked.

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. Now let's not let _her_ ruin our day."

And with that, we went to the museum of Tik-tok devices.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own the world or the characters

Note: Moasha is pronounced Moe-ah-sha

Amira walked quickly and alone through the streets of the Emerald City. It took an effort not to hold the ring on her finger. That precious ring-

The next chance she got, she was going to find gloves to put over it.

Not now though, she had 10 minutes to get to the Hymdjer Mansion. As she walked, she wrote her report in her head. Nothing about the ring nearly being taken, certainly not. She was going to make sure Byra payed for that…

Hate of the likes of which what some felt for the animals was a useful weapon, but it was for the manipulated to feel, not the manipulators. That general message had been drilled into her for as long as she could remember. Control was her most secret, desperate desire, and she desperately tried to convince herself every day that she _was_ the one in control.

She reached the mansion. Her mansion, as Father was still in the Gilikin. She walked in briskly, hurrying to her bedroom. She sent the servants there scurrying away, she needed complete privacy for this.

§

Back in her quarters, Amira had seated herself in the living room, across from where Lana was seated on a couch, reading a book on her lap in a way that Amira couldn't see what she was reading. Amira was painting her nails scarlet, her go-to color. If Byra saw this as an invasion of territory, she was wise enough not to be provoked.

Mainly though, she was watching Lana. She was dressed in emerald green, relatively plain as their was no occasion to dress up for, even though Amira knew Lana loved to do so. She wore a gold necklace, which was worn under the dress. Her hair was dark, and completely loose, and her eyes were far darker. She was on the smaller side, though that might have been due to malnutrition.

Amira wasn't just looking with her eyes though.

She could sense Lana's power, which was overwhelming. But she had sensed that since she had first met her.

She remember her conversation with Father. Could Lana be Moasha? It seemed to fit but- how could Moasha had survived?

She looked at the necklace. She had never seen Lana without it, could that be the answer? But if that were the case, someone must have helped her. Who could have done so, and presumably left her on the streets?

Either way, Amira needed to keep an eye on her, even if it was only for her power.

She didn't know why, but she felt her hand close around the string that rang the bell that summoned servants. She hesitated a moment, before pulling the string, and getting up to walk to the door.

As she hoped, it was Tyron who entered.

"You called Milady?" There was an edge of mockery in his voice, and his bow was less shallow than it was supposed to be. Amira would never have let any other servant get away with it.

But she needed someone who neither feared nor despised her, someone who could mock her so slightly. _Needed it._ And yet she had survived without anything like it her whole life.

"When does your shift end-" she smirked, "Oh faithful servant?"

He tugged on his belt. "40 minutes, more or less, milad-"

"Oh shut up. Meet me on the rooftop when it's over?" It wouldn't do for her roommates, or her friends, to know about her friendship with the servant boy.

"I await the hour on bated breath-"

"You mean the hour when you don't have to work?" She didn't allow him to answer. "See you then, then."

"Can't you give me a task? Lest the housekeeper get impatient with-"

"Like it's the housekeepers place to get impatient with me- "

"I was going to say 'me'. Forgive me, milady, I know my thoughts should be only of you-"

She laughed, and he grinned in triumph.

"Well get me a snack."

"Of course you're every need should be catered to my fair lady. What exactly would you like-"

"I trust you."

"You shouldn't." He winked, then sailed off.

§

It seemed that the "more" part of "40 minutes more or less" applied, as it had been 40 minutes since Tyron had told her that he would meet her on the rooftop in 40 minutes more or less, and Amira was still waiting.

No one really went to the roof, but she stood dead center in the middle of the roof, so that there was no chance that she would be seen.

Finally, Tyron climbed in.

"You're late." She said simply.

"I'm so sorry Milady-"

"You aren't funny. You're irritating."

"It's the jester's job to make fun of the king…"

She tried very hard not to smile.

"Any particular reason you summoned me here, milady, or were you just dying to see my handsome face?"

Amira sighed. She had quickly figured out that Tyron had- feelings- for her, ones that she was certain that she didn't return. The truth was, there was nothing remotely attractive about Tyron. His appearance was extraordinarily boring, with average height, average build, average pretty much everything. He had absolutely no power whatsoever, which was actually quite disorienting, most people had _some_ power, even if it wasn't enough to do anything. She wasn't even sure why they were friends…

There was something about him that invited confidence. She had confided in him more about herself than she had in anyone, even herself, more than she should have. Nothing about Father's plans, or her part of them, of course. But more than she should have.

And he didn't- want anything from her. Well, she wasn't sure how true that actually was, but he wasn't like the friends she wasn't ashamed to be seen with, who- spent time with her because that was the way that things were done. Or Father for whom she was a part of his endgame to rule Oz… to whom she was loyal to…

At any rate, she wasn't sure how to respond to Tyron's- _attraction_ to her, so she pretended not to see it.

"No particular reason, I guess."

§

Amira sailed into lessons late. Glinda raised an eyebrow, but didn't remark, Amira was always late, and Glinda seemed to have decided that if Amira didn't appreciate lessons with her enough then it was Amira's loss, not hers. The truth was, Amira _didn't_ appreciate lessons with Glinda, where she constantly dumbed down her skillset to avoid unwanted attention. The important thing was that she was here, at the Emerald Palace, and would be placed in a position of power.

Normally, she didn't interact with the other students. As Glinda's son, Elphias was automatically an enemy. As an animal, Byra was automatically an enemy. And of course, Lana was beneath her. But now she was reconsidering. She had, after all, decided that Lana needed watching.

So she plopped down next to Byra. "Byra?"

Byra, Lana, and Elphias all looked over in surprise. After all, she had never addressed Byra by her name before.

"Look, I'm sorry about what I said before. Yesterday. I shouldn't have."

They gaped at her. It was almost amusing.

She pretended to turn her attention back to what she had been doing before. Best not to say anything else, or they're jaws would fall off.

She glanced over at Glinda and was surprised to see her watching discreetly. Glinda saw her looking and, seemingly to cover herself, walked over.

"Try aiming your arm like this." She took Amira's hand that was holding the wand to guide it, but as she did she brushed against her ring, which she stupidly had not put a glove over like she had planned. Byra's near taking of it fresh on her mind, she snatched her hand off the wand. "DON'T TOUCH- DON'T TOUCH ME!" She snapped.

Glinda looked taken aback. "Well, if you don't want my help…" She huffed. And turned to help Byra instead.

"Airhead." She heard Byra say. "I don't know why you bother. If anyone doesn't deserve to be her student it's her."

Amira was vaguely aware of Glinda shook her wand, and said something about her being an airhead too when she was Amira's age.

Amira was surprised to feel her eyes fill with tears, and didn't know why. She could cry on cue, but she wasn't the sensitive type, and she didn't care what Byra thought of her. Perhaps it was just the weight of- well- everything. Perhaps it was that she had tried to reach out to Byra only a few minutes ago, and it hadn't even seemed to affect her. Perhaps Byra had simply hit a nerve.

She turned her head away, determined not to let the others see, and breathed through her mouth, careful not to make a sound. Then, after a few minutes, she got to her feet and walked out of the room, careful not to let anyone see her face, but to still act natural. Glinda yelled something after her, but Byra ignored her, and hurried to the washroom.

She wasn't going to stay there any longer than was necessary. She looked in the mirror, and tried to desperately wipe her tears away. She was reaching for some drops in her purse, for the redness when Lana walked in.

"Amira?"

Great. Just what she didn't need.

"Go away."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong." She snapped.

There was a pause. Amira sighed inwardly. She knew that Lana wouldn't unsee this, but Amira had hoped that Lana would take the cue to leave and pretend that she hadn't seen anything. But, she had forgotten, although Lana wasn't quite as socially awkward as Elphias, she wasn't the most- socially brilliant either.

"Why are you crying then?" Asked Lana.

It occurred to Amira, then, that she had no place to complain. She had wanted to get close to Lana, and now she had that chance. Who was she to let pride get in the way?

"I'm not an airhead." She muttered, finally.

Lana sighed. "If you don't want Byra to insult you, you shouldn't insult her."

"It's not the same."

"Why, because she's an animal?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." She lied, then realized that she wasn't doing a good job getting close to Lana.

"Really, because you said-"

"I know what I said." Amira snapped. "I apologised, didn't I?"

"You can't just apologise and make everything okay." Lana said shortly.

"Well what do you want me to do?" Amira asked, without thinking.

"Prove that you meant it." Lana said simply.

"What?"

"You asked what I wanted you to do, and I said to prove that you meant it."

Amira considered this. "What does that entail?"

"Not saying stuff like that in the future. Not sneering at Byra every time you see her. Not acting as if you're better than everybody else. Glinda's mad that you just left the room by the way."

Amira blinked, completely taken by surprise by the abrupt subject change. "What?"

"She sent me to tell you that this is your only warning, if you continue to disregard her authority she'll reconsider making you Good Witch of the East."

"Right- got it." It seemed the previous discussion was over. "Just a sec."

After she was certain that she had erased all signs that she had been crying, she turned and followed Lana out of the washroom.

Note: Please review. If you're confused about Amira's father and who Moasha is, you're kind of supposed to be, I promise it'll make sense later.


	4. Chapter 4

Note: I apologize In the last chapter, Animal should have been capitalized when Lana referred to Byra. Thank you Dragonheart35

There is a man, and this man wants power.

Soon, soon he will get this power. He's been playing a long game, but that means that it's a more dangerous one.

There are questions, of course, loose ends, but he will deal with them in time.

There is something he wants more than power though, and that is revenge.

He hates. It has often been said that there is no power stronger than love, that love conquers all… but his hate is borne of love, and that is why it is strong.

He had been married, once, but he had never loved Coiewa, and she had never loved him. Coiewa had betrayed him, many times, but she had not truly mattered.

Coiewa had been beautiful, it had been a large part of why he had married her. Jeema had hated her appearance. To most eyes, she would have looked hideous, even. But just as chocolalate's muddy brown color becomes inviting to human eyes when they learn to associate it with chocolate's taste, Jeema's appearance had become inviting to him.

Coiewa had been stupid. With good looks, a good inheritance, and a good husband, she had never had any need of a mind and so she had never used her's. Jeema had been a genius, at least in this man's eyes. His plan, his engame, was more her's than his own. They should have carried it out together, now he was left to do it alone.

Coiewa had never truly cared about anything. She had been passive, content with whatever life had given her, as long as it wasn't truly terrible. She had been completely void of any spark of passion. Jeema had been the ambitious one, who had clawed her way to the top. Most would never describe Jeema as passionate, but then, most would describe Jeema as ugly as well. This man knew that most were wrong in both cases. It was one of many examples of most being wrong.

Now, both were dead. One he was determined to avenge, the other had died by his hand. If you asked this man, he would tell you that it was because she had betrayed him. But in truth, it was because she was not Jeema.

§

Not far away, there is another man, and this man is past the point of wanting anything.

He has fallen, and he has broken. Now, he is completely and utterly destroyed, physically, emotionally, and mentally.

There is no hope, no light, no consideration for the future at all. He was human, but now he is an animal, no less than an animal.

He has not truly been destroyed by lost love, he has been destroyed by an echo of it. But an echo was enough.

There had been a dream. A vague dream, only have acknowledged. A hope.

And that hope had been destroyed, in the worst way imaginable.

It had been the destruction of hope that had destroyed him.

§

Both were broken, really, but Esmius Hymdjer, the man who wanted power and revenge, had broken the way that glass broke, now he was more jagged, more sharp, more dangerous.

He stood on a balcony now, staring over the world that he- they- had secretly created. There were loyal supporters, of course, but there were also dogs. Esmius smiled to himself. _dogs_ were the nickname that one group had created for another, not seeing the irony. For they were even more of dogs than the colorless ones who had earned that nickname, and yet they could never see it.

He began to sing, quietly, so that those below him could not hear him.

Exactly below his balcony, the other man began to sing as well.

Note: Sorry that this was a shorter chapter, I didn't want to give to much away.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: You know the drill, I don't own this

 **What is the purpose of learning history?**

The words were written on the blackboard that hadn't been there the day before, and Lana wasn't sure how she felt about this. Nothing in the 'class' that they were taken had had anything to do with history the day before, and Lana privately wished that she could go back to learning magic.

She frowned, Trying to think of a good answer. Privately, she didn't think that there was any purpose at all to learning history, but she knew the answer that people had said a hundred times before. She raised her hand.

"No need to raise hands, there are only 5 of us including me."

The 4 of them glanced at each other, than Byra said, "To prevent from repeating past mistakes."

That had been the answer that she was going to give.

"It provides context." Elphias said.

"Can you elaborate on that?"

"History is the past. Our laws were created in the past, our very civilization was created in the past-"

"Can you answer the question in the context of magic?"

"Oh. Right. But it's the same thing. Everything we know about magic was discovered in the past, and we need to know how it was discovered in order to know how to perform it."

Glinda nodded. "Excellent. A more thorough answer than most would give."

Lana blushed, glanced around the room, then said carefully,

"But isn't history- flawed?" She felt her heart racing. "Like- we don't know- for example-" She fought furiously to think of an example she could use. "Well I can't think of anything off the top of my head, but there are all sorts of historical controversies that- that people aren't sure about- I mean, it's better to know that _you're_ ignorant about something than to- like if you're answering a question on a test, would it be better to right down the wrong thing or just to leave it blank? I mean, on most tests it wouldn't make a difference in terms of the score, but-"

"I see what you're saying." Glinda said quietly.

"But history isn't just- I mean- isn't part of learning history learning what's flawed?" Byra asked.

"But what if no one knows what's flaw- But what I was trying to say was that we don't _know_ what's flawed. We as in- _everyone_. We can't know for sure what we have wrong."

"Which brings us back to the original question." Amira spoke slowly and carefully, as if she was calculating each word. "Why does it matter whether we know what's wrong or right?"

Glinda shook her wand, an odd expression on her face.

"Well, it's what Elphias said- um- can you repeat it?" Lana glanced over at him.

"I said that In order to understand magic, you need to understand how it was used in the past."

"Understanding magic wrong is worse than not understanding it at all." Lana said firmly.

"Does it? Is knowing whether or not the 33rd Ozma really burned the chair that Governor Jaylin Austin of Munchkinland sent her, as the legend goes, going to prevent us from accidentally killing ourselves if we try to burn something with magic?" Elphias asked.

Lana tried to come up with an answer to this, then shrugged.

"You're all more enthusiastic about history than I was at your age." Glinda said drily. "I hope you will channel this enthusiasm into your project. As there are 4 of you, you'll all be working together."

Byra, who was Lana's friend, Elphias, who she was friendly with, at least, and Amira. Well, this would be interesting.

"But-" Elphias started to object, but his mother shot him a stern glance. He sighed.

"You'll be doing a report on the first recorded instance of some form of magic being used. I expect you all to consider everything about history that we've discussed today. Also, you're expected to perform whatever it is, so make sure it's within your ability. It's due in 3 days, and believe me, you don't want to procrastinate."

Lana could see the wheels turning in Byra's head, the enthusiasm in her her eyes.

"One more thing. It can not be more recent than one century ago."

Byra sighed in disappointment, but Lana was relieved. There was something about the distance of years that would make her feel safer.

"Any questions?"

There was silence.

"Alright, now, who knows when the first recorded use of magic was?

§

The four of them ended up agreeing to go to the library together to work on the project, as none of them wanted to deal with the rumors that could fly if the prince entered the bedroom of his 3, female classmates with them, though Amira had not said this in so many words. At any rate, the library was a good place to do research.

"Can't we just divvy up what we have to do?" Elphias asked.

"We haven't even decided what we're doing." Amira answered. She looked from Elphias, to Lana, to Byra, back to Lana, and then added, "Why do you want to divvy it up anyway?"

Elphias looked uncomfortable. "I don't like working in groups. My mother says I have to learn to work with people, that's probably why she's making do this."

"Well we need to decide what we're doing. Maybe once we do, you could research the history and we could work on the magic part, since you aren't- as good at magic." Amira suggested.

"That's not fair to Elphias. We can't force one member of the group to do all the research." Lana said carefully.

"I wouldn't mind." Elphias mumbled.

"Well let's decide what we're doing. Then we'll talk more about this." Amira said. "Isn't there a Cat who discovered how to heal most life-threatening injuries?" She glanced at Byra.

Lana cringed inwardly. She remembered telling Amira something about being less speciesist, and it looked to her as if Amira was trying to follow through. The thing was, she was assuming that because an Animal was involved with something, Byra, as a Zebra, must therefore know all about it.

"Right." Byra said. "Daria was a very wise and talented Cat, but when she attempted to market her ideas to the Emerald city, one of the people there, Mr. Zerrible tried to steal them. When Daria tried to expose him for who he was, he sent some of his- minion people after her, and they chased her off to the mountains, and she ended up being mortally wounded, so she bled onto the ice and cast a spell on it, and was able to use it to heal herself."

"Uh, musicals are great, but they shouldn't be used as accurate sources of information." Lana said.

"What are you talking about?" Asked Byra nervously.

"First off, I saw _Daria; the chronicles of a Cat_ with you, and second off, the Cat who created this was named Eva Daria Schwartz, she's only referred to as Daria in the musical because there was some witch or something named Eva terrorizing the country shortly before the musical was written and the playwright didn't want them getting confused." Actually, Lana knew all about Eva the Evil Witch of the North, but she didn't want to seem like even more of a nerd than she was probably already coming off as. "And third, none of that actually happened. Schwartz just kind of created it."

"Oh. Right." Byra said. "Well either way, we can't use it. We need to demonstrate the magic, remember?"

"Is it particularly difficult?" Asked Elphias.

"It's- advanced." Lana said cautiously. "But doable."

"But how would we demonstrate it, other than by mortally wounding one of us and performing it on them?" Byra pointed out.

"Oh. Right." It was Lana's turn to blush. She hadn't thought of that.

"We should try to go the other way around then" Amira said. "Try to think of magic that we can demonstrate, and find the earliest instance that it's used. The only limitation is that it can't be less than a century ago, right? There isn't that much magic which has been discovered that recently anyway."

"That's what I was going to suggest, before you brought up Eva D Schwartz." Byra muttered under her breath.

"Well, what about a transformation spell?" These sorts of things were what Lana felt most comfortable doing.

"Which one?" asked Amira.

"It doesn't matter, they're all the same theory, the same type."

"Do you know when the first recorded instance of that was?" Asked Amira.

"Well, we are in a library." Byra said drily.

§

It wasn't so bad, each of the four of them poring over a different book, trying to find as much information as possible on Agceya Meukorius, the woman who, as they discovered relatively quickly, was credited with discovering how to discover things with magic. When the library closed, they all took books to take back to their bedrooms.

"I think we've done enough for one night." Amira said, after not very long.

"We should do as much as we can." Lana countered, eyes on her book.

Byra glanced over. "It's not like we have much else to do." She added.

"Really?" Amira raised an eyebrow. "You're so bored that you have nothing better to do than read about how Agceya Meukorius might have been stealing credit from Eedasha Cole?"

"She's not, since that's my job." Lana said. She had been assigned it by the rest of the group because she was the one who had brought up the possibility of history being flawed, and had made the mistake of reminding the others of this.

"Well, you have to admit, this is boring." Amira said. She took out a bottle of bright blue nail polish.

"As opposed to, doing our nails." Byra answered.

Amira stared at the other girls for a moment, then grabbed the books that they were each holding, one per hand, and snatched them out of them, grinning.

"Hey!" Lana snapped, trying to reach for it. "Give it back!"

Amira smiled wickedly, in a way that almost seemed to transform her. "No more reading. For the rest of the night. You have to promise."

"Why can't you just let us research our part of the project, and procrastinate on yours?" Lana asked, annoyed.

"Because." Amira said, almost too cheerfully. "We're going to have a slumber party."

"We. Share. A. Room."

"Making it all the more efficient." Amira replied, still smiling.

§

Lana didn't trust Amira.

It was unnerving, how she was suddenly acting as if she was best friends with her and Byra. Lana didn't trust it. She could tell that Byra didn't either.

After they presented the project, She, Byra, and Elpias would see her in the city with her friends a couple of times. But whenever this happened, Amira would pretend that she didn't know them. She was often distant with Elphias, even if she wasn't with her friends.

And yet, whenever she Byra, and Amira were alone in their room, Amira would act as if they were suddenly best friends.

"Why are you suddenly so interested in who I have a crush on now?" Byra asked, annoyed, a week after their project. "When you saw me walking right by you, you acted like you didn't see me."

"I was with my friends." She said, like that was the answer to everything.

"You can't just pick and choose when to treat us decently like living beings." Byra snapped back.

"We share this room." Amira answered. "We can't fight each other in the room. It's not practical."

"Not fighting each other doesn't have to mean being best friends." Lana cut in.

Amira sighed. "I wasn't thinking friends. I was thinking- frenemies."

"Frenemies don't have sleep overs." Lana said.

"Who says?" Asked Amira.

Lana grabbed a dictionary from under her bed. "Frenemy. A person with whom one is friendly despite a fundamental dislike or rivalry."

Amira rolled her eyes. "Well can we at least agree that these quarters are- a safe area?"

"Wasn't that the system we had before the project?" Asked Byra irritably.

"Well… yeah." She shrugged, then burst out, seemingly against her will, "But it isn't fair for the two of you to always be hanging out together, and exclude me all the time!"

"Life's not fair." Byra and Lana both answered automatically at the same time.

"And you can stay out with your real friends as long as you want and only come in here to sleep." Lana added.

Amira shrugged and left the room.

Lana sighed, feeling guilty and not entirely sure why. It wasn't the first time Amira had caused her to feel this way, and Lana suspected that it wouldn't be the last.

Note: the cat thing was my little sister's idea.

Please review!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: As much as I want to become a successful author and secretly write fanfiction for my own stuff, that is not what I am not doing that right now.

It was the afternoon in the summer in the emerald city, in other words, a naturally hot part of the day, the year, and the country. On top of that, the dark green that was everywhere in the Emerald City absorbed heat. All these factors together insured that it was absolutely sweltering, Byra could actually see sweat running down both of her friends' faces. Even Lana's. Byra didn't know that Lana _could_ get hot.

Nonetheless, there was only a week left before each of them would be going in a different direction, and a so nothing, especially not weather, was going to keep them inside.

They stepped into an air-conditioned cafe at the first opportunity.

"Can I visit you over the summer vacation?" Asked Elphias shyly.

"No." Both Lana and Byra said together, almost immediately. Byra saw the expression on Elphias's face and realized that she had come off as rude. "I'm sorry, I just-" She hesitated, not sure exactly what to say, how to explain, how much she wanted Elphias to know. She didn't know how much that his mother had told him.

"This is- something I want to do myself." Lana said, an expression on her face similar to how Byra felt. Lana had gotten a job in the Vinkus at a resort, controlling the weather. The job, as she explained, would be a chance to use the skills she had learned so far under Glinda, as well as a chance to find out more about the region that she would eventually- well- Byra wasn't actually entirely clear on what being the Good Witch of the West, or South, would actually entail, so she wasn't sure what the proper verb here was. "Do you- understand?" Lana asked tentatively.

Byra did.

"We're going to miss you though." Said Byra, not wanting Elphias to feel snubbed.

Elphias sighed. "I'll be staying here most of the summer, but we _are_ going to have our annual tour of the country."

"What's that like?"

"Boring." He perked up. "But Mother's giving a speech in each of the four regions, I'll see if I can spot you in the crowd at the Quadling country and the Vinkus."

Byra didn't know for sure that she could, but she nodded anyway.

After they had finished, the other 2 suggested going to the Museum of Ozian History, outvoting Byra.

§

The Museum was surprisingly crowded, really, though Byra thought she see one group of students on a field trip. Admittedly, the Museum of Ozian History is interesting enough that she would have liked to go there on a field trip, but not interesting enough to be what her first choice of a place to spend her free time.

They stepped into a room dominated by a giant, silver balloon with a giant basket attached to the bottom. The only other people in the room were Amira and her flock of friends gathered around it and winced, inwardly. She wasn't sure how she felt about Amira, but nothing good could possibly come out of seeing her with her friends.

"Modern history." Byra read aloud. "That must be the balloon that the Wizard came here on."

Amira turned. "Got a problem with that?"

She shook her head. "Oh no, it belongs here. It represents an important occasion that changed Oz for good- just not for the better."

"Look!" Said Lana, a little too loudly. "It's the Shield of Stuart Carson!"

"Who?"

Lana launched into an explanation about how he had led an expedition across the Uncrossable desert, which wasn't really uncrossable. Byra could see that Amira was still watching the group, but not saying anything.

Byra's eyes wandered around the room, and fell on a dirty, crooked, and old broom, labeled; The Broom of The Wicked Witch of the West. "Look!" She said, her interest piqued despite herself.

Her companions looked over.

"Is that-" Lana's voice was breathless. She her hand out to touch it, but Byra grabbed it. "We're in a museum, remember?"

She blinked. "Right." She dropped her arm."Sorry." She stared at it for a moment more. "Dorothy and her companions had to bring it back to the Wizard prove that they killed the Wicked Witch. I wonder if the shoes are in here-"

Elphias shook his head. "The Minister of Antiquities wanted to put that Broom side by side with Dorothy's slippers, but my mother was against both the shoes and the broom being put in the museum, so they- compromised." Byra glanced over. Elphias was hard to read, but there seemed to be something off in the way he said it.

"I wonder if it can still fly?" Asked Byra.

"It can." Said Lana, softly.

"How do you know?"

"I just do."

§

The day that Byra was leaving for the Quadlings was not only hot, but rainy. Though the weather was miserably, there was something about it that Byra found almost satisfying. Which didn't mean that she felt any better about going out in it.

Going home. Byra wasn't sure how she felt. Home wasn't a place that she liked, but it was a place that she could never leave for too long, before family obligations drew her back. Once there, she knew, she would count down the days until she could go back, and feel guilty about it.

She would miss Lana and Elphias, of course, and she was surprised to realize that part of her would miss Amira as well, despite the fact that the only time they had exchanged civil words were on that weird and awkward sleep-over.

Amira wasn't with them now, she had already left the day before, on a train to her father in the North. Lana's train was leaving an hour before hers, and Elphias was walking the girls to the station.

"You'll write?" Elphias asked, anxiously.

"Certainly." Lana answered. "I'll send you the address to write back to."

They watched each other for a moment, and Byra swore she saw Elphias blush. Then, Lana smiled, and climbed aboard the train.

"You _like_ her!" Byra said incredulously.

"Of course." Elphias answered.

Byra stared at him for a moment, then, realizing he didn't understand what she meant, she said, "I mean, _like_ like her."

"What?"

She struggled with her words for a moment. "You're- interested in her romantically."

"Oh. No I'm _not_."

"You are!"

"I'm going to stop having this argument." He said in a dignified voice. "Romantic feelings are impossible to prove or disprove."

Byra snorted.

"Anyway." He went on in the same voice, "I already have- romantic feelings- for Xylia."

"Who?"

"Her mother's a friend of mine, Shenshen Tenmeadows. They went to school together."

"Well, you can feel that way about more than one person at the same time."

"I know. I thought that telling you this would convince you that I'm completely open about my feelings. What about you?"

"You mean- do I-" A face flashed in her mind, completely against her will. "No!"

He nodded, accepting her answer.

"How do I know that Xylia is real, anyway?" Byra asked, after a moment.

"She'll probably be at one of those parties, I can point her out at the next one."

"You can't introduce me to her?"

"Oh no. I can't _talk_ to her."

"Why not?"

He stared at her for a moment, then sighed. "You wouldn't understand."

"Don't 'you wouldn't understand' me."

His face was bright red, now, and she wondered for a moment if she had been wrong. It had only been a hint of pink before…

Despite Byra's persistent badgering, the subject of crushes was quickly dropped. It seemed like far less than an hour before the train arrived for the long trip back home.

Yeah, I know that a resort that needs people who control the weather is kind of weird and not entirely realistic, but thinking up a summer job for an aspiring witch wasn't easy. Please review!


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Wicked. I'm running out of creative ways to say this.

Also, I've done some planning ahead in the story and there's going to be some lesbian romance. There won't be any sex scenes, the most that anyone, gay or straight, will have is kissing. But if anyone has a problem with this, don't read.

Lana wore a simple, conservative, black dress, and the only jewelry was her necklace, which was tucked under the aforementioned dress. Her hair was up in a bun. Byra had picked the outfit, she had assured her that it would make her look professional. But the more Lana thought about it, the more that the dress seemed like a bad idea.

She was thinking about this, when an elderly munchkin woman walked over. "Oh!" the munchkin said when she saw her, and did a little jump.

Lana blinked. "Something wrong?"

"Oh, no dear. Just my old eyes deceiving me. Can I sit here?"

"Sure." Lana replied, unsettled.

"My name is Bertha Chopper. And yours?"

"Lana."

"Lana…?"

"Just Lana."

Bertha nodded. "Well, let me tell you, I've been around for a long time. Why, I'd bet my hat that I was your mother's age a long time before _she_ were born."

Lana decided that that didn't warrant a reply, so she nodded and tried to look impressed.

"I tried to coax food from the ground during the Great Drought, when we nearly all starved to death! I worked at the house of the Wicked Witch of the East, though we were all truly _slaves_ to her! And look at me now, riding a train through the reign of _Glinda the Good_ , who will bring ruin to us all, you know, I always said so."

Lana struggled to keep her face neutral. "I'm studying under Glinda the Good." She said, in what she had wanted to be a mild voice.

Bertha looked her over. "Well, then, I'm very sorry about that, but did you know that she used to be friends with the Wicked Witch of the West?"

Lana didn't answer.

Bertha nodded, in the excited away of a gossip. "She herself admitted it. Someone asked her and she said yes. But then, you know, she immediately started backpedaling." She raised the pitch of her voice. " _Oh it depends what you mean by friend. It was a long time ago._ "

Lana hesitated, heart running a marathon in her chest. "I read somewhere," she said finally, thinking of **The Rise and Fall of the Wicked Witch of the West,** by Gregorius Caln, "That the Wicked Witch of the West was incapable of love. Isn't love necessary for friendship?"

Bertha considered that. "Well, I suppose so. So the Wicked Witch was obviously hoodwinking her then…"

Lana studied the ground. "Then that's hardly Glinda's fault, is it?"

"Of course it is! Glinda's a fool, I always said so, anyone with a brain would've known better than to trust the _Wicked Witch of the West_."

"Well, she wouldn't have been the Wicked Witch of the West at school."

"Yes but still, she was _green_."

Lana didn't answer, not because she didn't have a reply, but because it was clear that she wasn't going to change the woman's mind, and she had no desire to prolong the uncomfortable conversation.

"Why, I remember back when she was that pretty young thing, engaged to the Captain of the Guard, and let me tell you, everyone _loved_ her. But I, _I_ could tell even then. And then she went and overthrew the Wonderful Wizard himself!"

Good grief, one of the Wizard's supporters. "I always heard that the Wizard chose to leave Oz."

"Well, you heard wrong then didn't you? He only left because Glinda threatened to bring unspeakable harm to our great Oz if he didn't."

Not only one of the Wizard's supporters, but one of those nutty conspiracy theorists as well. "If that were the case, the Wizard surely would've been able to protect us. After all, he is wonderful, is he not?"

"Well yes, but he wouldn't want to risk us would he?"

"Wouldn't leaving us in the hands of someone who had threatened to bring unspeakable harm to our country constitute as 'risking us'?"

Bertha sighed. "You only doubt me because you're too young to remember the golden days under the Wonderful Wizard of Oz."

Lana suspected that she could find people who _had_ been around during 'the golden days under the Wonderful Wizard of Oz.' that would disagree with Bertha, but again, she didn't answer.

§

The train station at the Vinkus was very yellow, as yellow was the Vinkus' color. Lana stopped there to make sure 2 water bottles were filled to the brim, and intended write letters to Elphias and Byra.

 _Dear Elphias,_

 _I know I promised I'd send an address to send replies to, but I'm afraid that I don't have one yet, I'm still at the station._

She stared at the yellow wall in front of her. What was there to write about? Bertha Chopper, who had sent the entire ride there trying to convince her that Glinda was evil, was on the top of her mind, but she didn't think that she should write about _that_. It was one thing if she and Elphias were actually talking, taking the time to write it out seemed to attach an importance to it that it didn't deserve.

After a few moments, she crumpled up the piece of paper and threw it away. She could write to her friends later.

§

Lana was very, very hot. Why had she gotten used to the relatively mild climate of the Emerald City? She was paying for it now. At least she had had the sense to change out of that heavy, black dress that she had been wearing before.

She reached for her second water bottle, then saw that it was empty. Dammit.

Right, she needed to stay positive. After a few moments, happy thoughts turned to happy feelings, which turned into song. A song about home, a song about belonging, a song about love. For about 3 verses, the song distracted her from her discomfort. But the singing dried out her throat, so she stopped.

6 months in the Palace had spoiled her. She thought again, bitterly. She continued to try to walk a few more feet, and then her legs gave way and she fell to her knees panting.

It was then that someone grabbed her waist and lifted her into the air. She looked up to see their face, and let out a shriek.

Please review!


	8. Chapter 8

Still have no more creative ways to say I don't own Wicked.

The annual tour of the country took an entire month, a week at each region. At the moment, they were at the first stop of the journey, the Glikkus. It was the first night, and his mother was giving a speech. The speech had turned into an entire song with the public, but Elphias wasn't in the mood to sing along.

He scanned the crowd, and saw his grandfather on his father's side, but he wasn't looking at him. His mother's parents were in front with him.

After scanning the crowd some more, his eyes fell on Amira. She was singing with the rest of the crowd, but not with the same enthusiasm. She glanced over at him, saw him looking at her, and shot him a look of disdain. Then, she turned her attention back to his mother. Elphias wondered if he had ever seen Amira paying this much attention to his mother.

Behind her stood a man who was impossible for him to avoid looking at. It wasn't just the fact that his face had a red gash across it and one of his eyes was swollen shut. It was the fact that he was looking at Elphias's mother without blinking, an expression of undisguised hatred.

Elphias shuddered.

§

While they were in the Glikkus, they were staying with Elphias's grandparents. And as much as Elphias loved his grandmother, there was something about her that very much irritated him. It was probably the way that she liked to criticize him, and everyone around her.

"You could try smiling a little more." She was saying now. "You look like a statue all the time."

He looked over at his grandmother, and gave her a big smile.

"No, give me a _real_ smile."

It wasn't the first time that they had had that exchange, and Elphias was never sure what he was actually doing wrong.

"Why don't you not distract him while he's eating?" His mother said.

They were having dinner at the Upland Manor after the day's festivities. Elphias didn't like much of what he was being served, but the situation was not an unfamiliar one. Elphias was a terribly picky eater, but he didn't want to come off as rude or childish, so he would always whatever was in front of him. Unfortunately, this meant that he took a very long time to eat.

"I'm eating." He grumbled.

After a few minutes of silence, he asked, "Who was the guy with Amira?"

"What's that?" Asked his grandfather.

"Amira's takes sorcery with me. I saw her with a guy, he had a gash on his face."

"Her father, Count Esmius Hymdjer. And you're being rude." His mother answered.

"Why does he look like that?"

"He was born that way." His mother's response was now a little heated. Not that it matters."

"Well, it _does_ matter that he's one of The Wizard's old supporters." His grandmother chimed in.

" _You_ were one of The Wizard's supporters." Was his mother's response.

"I can't believe you're defending him. Anyway, _everyone_ was one of the Wizard's supporters at some point-"

"I wasn't." Elphias interrupted.

"Don't interrupt. And I mean the people old enough to have been around when he was."

"You helped put him in power." His mother said.

A silence fell over the table.

"No one could have seen what that would lead to." His grandfather said softly. "We had no way of knowing-"

"But didn't _you_ help The Wizard?" Elphias interrupted once again. "Even when you knew he was a fraud and a bad guy and stuff?"

" _Elphias_." His grandmother said, glaring at him. He had done something wrong again, and again, he didn't know what, he was saying exactly what his mother had once told him.

"Sorry." He said, apologizing anyway.

"Look at her when you say it." His grandmother ordered.

But he didn't want to look at her. He felt as if he was in some sort of death trap maze that was completely dark, so that he couldn't see what to avoid. So, without excusing himself, he got up and left, running to his room.

A few minutes later he heard a knock on the door. It was one of his parents, or grandparents. Not wanting to talk to any of them, and because there was no lock on the door, he sat in front of it.

"Elphias?" It was his father's voice.

"Go away."

"I want to talk to you."

He didn't say anything, he didn't know what to say.

He heard the doorknob turn on the other side, and felt the door push against his back. "Elphias, I'm not mad at you."

He hesitated, then got up. The door opened.

"You're mother-" He stopped. A way with words didn't run in the Chuffrey family.

"I keep on trying. And I can't- I feel like I can't do anything right." The words sounded self-pitying to Elphias's ears. "I always have to be told what to do because I can't figure it out by myself, and everyone else can figure it out by themselves, and I'm no good at magic, and I'm no good with people, and that's what I'm _supposed_ to be good at-"

His father was looking at him, not saying anything. Maybe, like him, he didn't know what to say. It occurred to him, belatedly as always, to make eye-contact with his father, but he couldn't bring himself to.

"Am I in trouble?" Asked Elphias, more to see how angry with him his father was than anything else.

"Not exactly." He hesitated.

"Just tell me what I did." Elphias turned to look at him pleadingly. "I said the same thing that Mom told me-"

"I know. I know. But-"

"And Grandma-" He hesitated.

"Your grandmother can be- overprotective. But this isn't about her."

"I- I don't understand." Elphias said, frustrated, but also ashamed.

"Some day you will." He hesitated. "Elphias, we all do things we regret. A lot. It's how we learn and grow."

"But why-" He frowned. "What did I _say_?"

His father chewed his lip.

"What I'm saying is, that helping the Wizard was one of these great regrets that your mother had. But it doesn't mean that she's a bad person- because- well- because even though it's a bad thing to do-"

"But I wasn't saying that she was a bad person. It's just that she was saying that Grandma and Grandpa helped put the wizard in power, and I thought that it was sort of hypocritical."

"Right. She probably shouldn't have said that either. Because that's one of _her_ parents regrets."

"Oh." He considered that for a moment, then he climbed back down to the dining room. "I don't think you're a bad person. I just don't think Grandma and Grandpa are either."

"Now-" His grandmother started to say.

"Can we please just- talk about something else?" Asked his mother.

So they did.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: The residents of Oz do not belong to me

Sorry it took so long to post this, I was going to have a chapter from Byra's perspective but I had trouble writing it.

The Hymdjer estate had a total of 6 gardens, each named after a different flower: Hyacinth, Buttercup, Rose, Hydrangea, Marigold, and Carnation. Amira was in the Buttercup garden at the moment, her favorite part of the mansion. She didn't like her room, mainly due to bad memories associated with it, and though she was always willing to sit by Father's side if it pleased him, given the choice she would rather not. It was her last day here before she would return to the Emerald Palace, and she found herself looking forward to going back, where she could see Tyron, and where she could have a little breathing room.

Over the summer, she had fallen into the routine of bringing some sort of activity here to Buttercup Garden and spending the day doing it until it got dark, then returning to her room. About 3 times a week, Father would summon her to his throne room and she would sit beside him. Gone were the days where he would simply have her sit there doing nothing to test her patience, he now was constantly asking her for more information what she had learned at the Emerald Palace, particularly about Lana, and whether or not she was, in fact, the lost Moasha.

"Milady?"

There was not a trace of mockery in the eyes of the servant who had addressed her. Her name was Eleanor, and she had been Amira's personal maid since she was 16. They probably had exchanged less than 100 words during that time.

"Yes"

"It's time to leave."

Amira didn't smile, she simply got to her feet and began to walk out of the estate, leaving it behind for what would hopefully be nine months.

§

The Emerald City was warm, especially in comparison to the Glikkus, which were cooler. No sooner than Amira had flopped onto her bed that Byra came in.

"Have you seen Lana?"

"No." Amira said.

"She was supposed to get here yesterday."

"Have you told Glinda?"

Byra nodded. "She thinks that she might have just missed the train or something."

"Maybe she did."

Byra frowned, looked for a moment as if she were going to say something, then simply left the room, leaving Amira feeling slightly uneasy, but unsure why.

She reached out and tugged on the bell, hopefully summoning Tyron. She should really go meet with Tia and the others, but she settled on promising herself to do so tomorrow.

§

"I got you a welcome-back present." Tyron handed her a small, wooden box. Amira took it, opened it up, and felt her breath catch. For a moment, she felt overwhelmed by emotion, then, she whispered, "Is that gold earrings?"

He nodded slowly. "Do you like them?"

Amira didn't know what to say, it wasn't just that it was an expensive gift, but that, as a servant, Tyron probably didn't get payed much, but he still spent a lot of money on _her_. No one had ever done anything like that for her before.

"I-I didn't get you a present-I'll have to get you one-" As she said it, she knew that she could never get one that matched Tyron's. It made her- disappointed in herself, maybe, in a way that it shouldn't have.

"My birthday's Febuary 25th…"

"I'll get you something then too."

"Sounds good."

For a moment, neither said anything, as Amira saw in Tyron something she hadn't seen in anyone before. Tyron stared back, fidgetting with his belt in a way that betrayed his discomfort. It was he who broke it.

"So how was your summer?" He winked. "Miss me?"

"You wish." Amira retorted, relieved but also a little disappointed to return to their usual banter. "How was _your_ summer?"

"It was agony of course, without you here-"

"Ha. Seriously though-"

"I'll tell you about mine if you tell me about yours."

He was more serious now, but there was still a trace of corny humor that made her feel comfortable.

"I don't like the family mansion. I'm not sure why."

He watched her patiently.

"I love my father-" No, love wasn't even close to the right word but it was the only word that she dared use here. "But- I just- I don't like to be around him."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"If you could have one wish what would it be."

It wasn't completely unrelated to what they had been talking about, but it had that illusion. "I believe it's already been established that the correct answer is more wishes." She replied, cautiously.

"You can't say more wishes." He had dropped the 'milady' act now, and looked slightly uncomfortable, fidgeting with his belt.

Amira knew the answer, but she knew better than to say it out loud, even to Tyron. She would give the wish to Father, the only man in Oz worthy to possess such a treasure.

But what if Father said that he didn't need it, that she could use it for whatever _she_ desired. He never would, but it wasn't like she would ever get a wish like that anyway.

"I would wish that chocolate had the nutritional value of vegetables."

"Really?"

"No." She sighed. "But something like that. I would wish that what was good for me would also be what I wanted." She realized that she was essentially saying, 'I wish everything could be handed to me on a silver platter.' "I mean- Oz, I'm not expressing myself well."

"I think I understand."

"I doubt that."

"Don't get me wrong, you're difficult to understand. You never actually say what you mean, you always talk about yourself with vague statements like this. But I think I have a vague idea."

"That's not understanding, and I give you more than I give most people."

"You don't have to tell me your wish. As long as you know what it is."

Amira wasn't sure she did.

§

The next day, Lana still hadn't come, and neither Elphias nor Byra had received any letters for her the entire summer. An announcement had been made and a reward offered. Amira used Father's contacts to discreetly inquire about Lana's whereabouts as well, but it seemed as if she had disappeared from Oz completely.

Then, a week after she was supposed to, she arrived by train, apologizing profusely for her tardiness, and insisting that she had simply been delayed on the way there. Watching Byra hug her for the seventh time, Amira noticed that although the Vinkus, where she was supposed to have spent her summer, were warmed and sunnier than the Emerald City, Lana's pale skin was neither tanned or sunburned.

Amira and her father had suspected practically since Amira had first told him about Lana and he had told her about Moasha that the two were the same. Had Father- reclaimed her? Had Lana spent the summer undergoing similar training to what Amira had received? Had Amira simply not been told?

The idea gnawed at her the more that she thought about it. Other than Arima, she hadn't ever met another of Father's- whatever the right word was.

One day, curiousity- and maybe something else- got the better of her. One day, when Byra wasn't in the room, and Lana was reading as usual, she walked over to her. Lana was dressed in dark olive green velvet, the gold necklace, as usual, under her dress.

"Watcha reading?" She asked casually.

Lana glanced up, suspicious. "The Alchemy of Gemstones. It's about the magical properties associated with different Gemstones."

"Sounds fascin- wait, can you tell me the magical properties associated with silver and gold?" She watched carefully for Lana's reaction.

"Those aren't gemstones. They're metals."

"Still have magical properties associated with them. What are they?"

"I don't know."

Amira watched Lana's face carefully, wondering if she was lying to deflect suspicion. "Huh. Something you don't know."

If Lana had any idea what Amira was talking about, she was doing a good job hiding it. "Well do _you_ know?"

"Concealment." Amira lied.

"No it's not."

Had Lana really fallen into her trap so easily? "You just said you didn't know what gold and silver did, how do you know if it's concealment?"

"Because that's pretty exclusively a diamond thing."

Oh.

"You have a gold necklace."

Lana's eyes widened ever so slightly. "It's not magic though."

Amira shrugged, trying to look like she didn't care. "Have a good summer?"

Lana returned to her book. "Yes."

"I spent it at my family's mansion."

"That's great."

"My father's Esmius Hymdjer. You might have heard of him."

"Can't say I have."

It was a completely uncharacteristic move, completely throwing caution to the wind. "Look, do you need- help?"

Help hadn't been the word that she had intended to come out of her mouth.

"What?" She looked up from her book. "Why are you offering- help?"

"Because-" Amira stopped. She found her hand on the gold glove she had started wearing over her ring, she could feel it through the fabric. She didn't know what to say, how to answer Lana's question. "Because we're teammates, aren't we?"

"I don't know what you mean."

Amira stopped.

Lana was wearing velvet, despite the fact that it was about 80 degrees. She should have been overheating- unless if her body had adjusted to the warmer temperatures of the Vinkus over the summer. Furthermore, if the necklace meant what Amira thought it meant, and if Lana had truly spent the summer being- reconditioned by Father, he would never have allowed her to keep it. Something that overrode the rings? He would have destroyed it.

She had been wrong. And she had nearly blown everything.

"Never mind." She said quickly.

"Amira, what's going on?"

"Nothing. Nothing. I just mean, we're roommates, you know? Classmates." She left the room before Lana had the chance to follow up on it.

Despite what she had just learned, Amira was now almost certain that Lana was in fact Moasha, even if her father hadn't done anything about it yet. Not completely, but close.

Of course, she could just take off the necklace while she was asleep and see what happened. The very thought made her nauseous, and she wondered if she was even capable.

 _I'm capable of anything._

 _Anything._


	10. Chapter 10

Yeah, I don't own Wicked…

"Silver and gold are both associated with heat." Lana said.

They were studying epokunuwu stones, which could be used to make magic impossible within a certain distance of it, depending on when it was used. This class, she had seated herself between Byra and Amira, wanting to follow up on the conversation from the previous day.

Amira looked bored and haughty. Lana wasn't sure Amira had heard her.

"You asked what they did the other day." Lana said, watching her reaction carefully.

"I didn't expect you to follow up on it." She said, giving most of her attention to the magazine she was reading under the table.

"You had a silver ring." Lana said. "I thought it was used to- alter your appearance." She said carefully.

"Then you think I'm good-looking?"

Lana gritted her teeth, wondering if she had imagined that glimpse of- something that she had seen earlier. "What are you hiding?"

"I'll trade a secret for a secret."

The tone was mocking, but there was an edge behind it- eager, determined, maybe even vicious. Amira had looked up from the bit of gossip about Lady Inmona to actually _look_ at her.

"I have no secrets." Lana said automatically.

Amira held her gaze, and there was something in her eyes that frightened Lana.

 _What am I doing?_

She turned to Byra, who gave her a questioning look. She began to talk about the first thing that came to her head, not even paying attention to what she was talking about, but Byra took the hint and eagerly joined in.

When she looked back at Amira, the other girl was still looking at her.

§

"The Red King."

A risky move. If she or Byra put down the red queen, Elphias would get 15 points and- since Lana already had the purple witch, he would be doomed to lose. The game was almost over and Elphias was stuck with the lead, it wouldn't surprise Lana if he had no other option. It was the golden oppurtunity for her, however, to get rid of the Red Queen.

It had been many months since they had arrived back from the summer, it was now late November. This meant it was too cold to roam the emerald city, as they used to, so they were in the sitting room of Lana and Byra's quarters, playing a game Byra had introduced them too called Green. So far, Lana was winning this game, but they were also keeping track of accumulated points, and Byra had the least overall.

Lana grinned wickedly. "The red queen."

"Oh c'mon." Byra said. "If she got that it would have balanced those negative twelve points nicely.

"At least _you_ don't have the Red Queen." Elphias said.

Byra put down the Green King, probably wanting to get rid of the high ranking green card, then put a hoof on the entire pile and moved it toward Elphias. "Last round."

Elphias put down the yellow eleven, Lana put down the red six, and Byra put down the blue one.

After counting the points, they saw that Lana had won with -7 points, Byra had come in second with 5 points, and Elphias had lost with 20 points.

"I wish someone would thread the needle." Byra said idly. "It would be cool."

"You could." Said Elphias.

"I never have the right cards for it…"

"I think you just like playing it safe." Lana said, thinking of all the times that Byra had put down a high ranking green card as soon as she could.

And then, Amira stepped into the room from the hallway, the type of smile on her face that looked like it would hurt her cheeks, one hand clenched and the other holding a box of chocolates. "Anyone want some?"

Her question was met with silence.

"Please tell me you're not doing that thing again…" Byra said, annoyed.

Amira almost didn't seem to hear her. "Here." She set the chocolates down on the table and ran to her room.

"Think it might be poison?" Byra asked, after a moment.

"Don't joke." Lana muttered, entirely sincere. "I wouldn't be surprised."

Byra popped one in her mouth.

"Have some! It's good!

Elphias took one as well, and after watching her friends for a moment, she took one.

It was darker chocolate than she expected more bitter than sweet. But still chocolate. Very very good chocolate…

"Alright., want to play again?" Elphias asked after a few moments.

Byra shuffled the cards and dealt them out, 25 cards for each of them. "Who has the yellow one?"

Lana took another chocolate, and sorted her cards into the 5 suits, purple, blue, green, yellow, and red. "I do."

Byra put down a yellow witch, and Elphias put down a yellow ten. Byra took the cards. Lana ate another chocolate.

There was a surprisingly large amount of chocolates, each of them were still eating greedily when Lana put down the green witch, Byra put down the red seven, and Elphias put down the purple ten, causing Lana to lose almost as spectacularly as she had won the last game. Elphias then left, his total points giving him a nice, solid second place, and leaving Lana dead last. He took some of the chocolates with him.

By the time she went to bed, Lana had a splitting headache. She hoped that rest would help, but it was making it difficult for her to sleep.

At some point she must have, because she had a very strange dream. She was sitting on a throne, underground, watching several people, about her age, dancing. The dance was joyful, the fun, high energy sort of dance that people danced in festivals. The horrifying part was that they were ankle-deep in corpses and blood, and they seemed almost not to notice, with all the cheer that they were dancing with. She felt someone tugging around her neck and looked down on herself, then realized that there was a collar there, attached to a leash. "Dance!" A voice shouted above her. "Dance! Dance! Dance!"

"Darina!" Someone screamed.

She woke with a start.

"No!"

For one disoriented moment, she thought that she was still in a dream. Then there was another scream, wordless and tortured, but not afraid.

She got up and ran to Byra's bed. She was awake, though, perhaps woken by the screams.

"Arima!" Now it was more of a sob than a scream.

"It's Amira." Byra whispered. She slid out of bed, and both of them ran over to where Amira lay, asleep, her hair put up in a bun even when she was sleeping, tangled in her sheets, and sobbing. She looked vulnerable, more vulnerable than Lana had ever seen her, and that was why, at that moment, neither she nor Byra hesitated, or even looked at each other. Lana began to try to shake Amira awake, while Byra tried to untangle her from her sheets.

Amira's eyes opened, and she stopped crying immediately. For a moment, the three girls just looked at each other.

"Go away." She whispered. No one moved. Amira took a breath as if to speak, held it for a moment, and then released it. "Just a nightmare. That's all."

Lana wanted to ask about the name that she had heard being shouted, but she didn't want to admit that she had heard it. It seemed like an invasion. "Are you okay?"

"Why do you care?" But the words were halfhearted, not as cruel as Amira's often were. "I'm fine."

"No you're not." Lana whispered, more to herself than Amira. It was the one thing about Amira that she was sure about.

After a moment, Amira said, "I dreamed I found an arm."

"An arm?" Asked Byra.

"It was lying in the street. And I picked it up because I wanted to find it's owner. So it attacked me."

Lana would have giggled, if it weren't for the circumstances. She exchanged a look with Byra, and they silently agreed that Amira was lying, but they were going to go along with it anyway.

"I heard that dreams tell the future." Amira said, smiling shakily. "What do you think it means?"

Lana hesitated, then said, in as serious a voice as she could manage, "I think, that it means you will get eaten by a giant red squirrell."

Amira laughed, in a deranged, hysterical sort of way. It was the king of laughter of someone to find anything- anything to laugh at. It was a laugh that Lana had heard many times in her life.

"I had a dream that I found a _leg_ lying in the street. And I picked it up to find it's owner, so it _kicked_ me." Byra said.

"That means that you will be eaten by a giant _blue_ squirrel."

They continued through the night, telling jokes as funny as they could make them, which wasn't that funny, but still made Amira laugh.

§

"You know, if you want something that's actually funny, there's this play called Ludicrea-" She stopped, realizing what she was saying.

"I can't." Amira said. "I have to meet with my friends.

Was there actual regret in Amira's voice? Or was Lana imagining it, or was it simply faked?

"Oh."

There was a silence for a moment, everything that they had shared the night before fading away.

"What time is it?" Asked Amira.

The night had turned, surprisingly quickly, into morning.

"9:00." Lana answered.

Amira climbed out of bed, and grabbed a silver-green dress from her closet, then started to change into it.

"It's my 21st birthday." Amira blurted out. "We're going to have a celebration."

There was a silence, Lana not wanting to embarrass herself by asking whether they were invited to come, in case they weren't. Of course they weren't. One night didn't change nearly a year of animosity.

"You aren't-" Byra started to ask.

"No." Amira said quickly.

Now in her dress, she moved in front of the mirror to unbound her hair. It fell down her shoulders in black curls, one of the only two times of the day that it was ever unbound. "I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking by bring it up."

They stood in silence for a long time, Lana unable to take her eyes away from Amira's mirror, which showed that her face had taken the neutral expression of those trying to hard not to show emotion.

"Thank you." She said, after a moment.

Lana didn't speak, didn't know what to say.

"For what?" Asked Byra.

"For- for that. I- I don't understand why you did it."

Lana was beginning to feel uncomfortable.

"I won't forget it." She turned from the mirror, her hair put up in some fancy style and with glittery eyeshadow, gold earrings and dark red lipstick, looking more like the Amira that Lana knew except for the way that she looked at her. Her mouth opened, as if to say more, and then she said, simply, "I have to go."

And with that, she left the room.

"What was that?" Byra asked.

Lana gave the only answer she could.

"I don't know.

Please review, constructive criticism is welcome. The game in the beggining is loosely based off of Hearts, green represents hearts, purple represents diamonds, red represents spades, yellow represents clubs, and blue is just an extra suit. The witch is the equivalent of a jack and "threading the needle" is the equivalent of shooting the moon.


	11. Chapter 11

I have not acquired Wicked since the last time I posted.

Also, this post I'm going to be breaking my pattern of only showing one point of view, most of it will be from Elphias's perspective but some of it will be from Amira's at the end.

Elphias climbed up the stairs 2 at a time and knocked on the door to the girls' quarters. He waited a few seconds, then Byra opened the door.

"You have to-" He stopped. "Why is Lana reading a magazine?"

Lana glanced up. "Why can't I be reading a magazine?"

Elphias shrugged. "It just seemed more like something Amira would do."

"It's not like it's a fashion magazine or anything." She held it up, so that Elphias could see that it was called Discovering Magic. "What I'm reading is actually important."

Amira, who, until this point, had been painting her nails blue, said, "Yes, but what I read is actually fun."

Lana raised an eye-brow. "A munchkin named Paris Gold may have figured out a way to travel through time."

"Seriously?" Elphias asked.

"Well, there's still a lot that needs to be figured out before anyone can…"

"If you could travel back in time, what would you do?" Elphias asked after a moment.

Amira looked up from her nails to look at him. "Hasn't it been established that you should go back in time and kill the Wicked Witch of the West?"

Lana's eyes narrowed. "What happens if you kill your own grandfather?"

"I don't think that the Witch was anyone's grandfather."

"That was one example." Lana said. "One that would work in this context would be if your parents met at the celebrations over the death of the Witch. The point is, it would create a paradox since you would than cease to exist, and therefore be unable to kill the witch, and therefore exist again, and so on. And then I'm not sure what would happen. Maybe time would break."

"If we're capable of crossing rooms without breaking reality, I'm sure we're capable of going back in time and preventing our own births without breaking time." When the other people in the room gave Amira varying looks of shock, she blushed and said, "I've been educated."

"Then you'd know that that paradox can be explained if you know calculus." Elphias said irritably.

Amira shrugged. "Whatever."

"And if anyone were to do this it would have already happened, since it's in the past, so no one ever will." Elphias added.

"My head hurts." Byra said. "This sort of thing seems like a good argument against time-travel."

"It's all a moot point since we can't _kill_ the Witch." Lana said. "First off, none of us are capable of taking on such a powerful witch-"

"Please." Amira said. "Her weakness is water."

"And you could just kill her when she's a baby." Added Byra.

"I'd argue it's unethical to kill babies." Said Lana.

"The greater good. The ends justify the means. The needs of the many before the needs of the few- especially when the few is a monster." Amira said.

Lana didn't answer for a moment, then she said, "And second off, the way the spell would work theoretically, is that you'd basically be a ghost in the past. It wouldn't be possible to intervene, you couldn't touch anything, you'd walk through solid objects, and no one from the past would know you were there."

"Then what's the point?" Asked Byra.

"You could witness anything that's ever happened in Oz." Elphias answered. _We could clear Elphaba's name._ "We could prove the allegations against the Wizard once and for all-"

"Or disprove them." Amira said.

"We could solve any crime. We could-"

"You're assuming everyone would find whomever was doing this trustworthy. When such a spell is created, it would take a lot of power, and you couldn't take others with you." Said Lana.

"When _will_ such a spell be created?" Asked Elphias.

"It could be from anywhere from years to days." Lana hesitated. "Truth is powerful- but it's also a source of good. What better area could we apply ourselves?"

"You don't think there's such a thing as secrets that are better left unknown?" Amira asked, frowning. "Or that this could be abused in any way?"

Lana didn't answer.

"Why don't you tell those two why you came." Amira suggested.

Elphias couldn't believe that he had forgotten- well, not forgotten exactly, simply let it be pushed aside. The King and Queen of the Vinkus were visiting, his mother was throwing a party, and all three of the girls were late. "Mother was wondering where you were-"

"Oh!" Lana jumped to her feet. "I completely forgot. Why didn't you two _tell_ me?" And then she ran out of the room.

Elphias frowned. "Did all _three_ of you forget?"

"I intend to be fashionably late, and it's not my job to inform the others." Amira said, returning to her nail polish.

Byra, unlike Lana, was already dressed up in emerald green, didn't answer.

Lana ran in. She was dressed in light green, trimmed with a lot of gold and a more- well- green shade of green. Other than that, she hadn't done much to dress up, her hair was down and she wasn't wearing any make-up. The only piece of jewelry she wore was the gold necklace, for once above her dress instead of tucked under it, with a diamond on it. Elphias thought that she looked beautiful, not gaudy like some people were at court, even his mother on some days.

She saw him looking at her and smiled at him, and he blushed, turning back to the door. "Let's go."

As they walked out, all except Amira who apparently still wasn't fashionably late enough, Elphias said, "So are you friends with Amira now?"

"I wouldn't say friends. We don't insult each other like we used to. Or at least, she doesn't insult us to our faces." Byra said.

"She's hiding something.' Lana said quietly. "I'm not sure if it's good, or bad, but Amira isn't what she seems.

§

"Having fun?"

Elphias looked over at Byra, who had walked over to where he sat at the side of the room, and shrugged.

"I don't like to dance."

"Even with Lana?"

Elphias could feel his heart pounding, and didn't know why. "Even with Lana. I mean, of course not with Lana, why would I make an exception for Lana?"

"You're hopeless." Byra informed him. "Go ask her."

Elphias stared at her. "But I don't like to dance."

"I dare you." She said.

He didn't answer for a moment.

"Just as friends."

"Just as friends."

Elphias got up. "Where is she?"

"Not sure. We can find her though."

They walked through the crowds of dancers together, muttering apologies to those that they accidently bumped into

And there she was. Dancing with a boy in bright yellow.

"It's just a dance." Byra said quietly. "He's too young for her."

All the times that Elphias had seen the boy, he had not noticed that this boy that that she was dancing with had dark red hair and sky blue eyes, was tall and muscular, was- well handsome. The boy she was dancing with was the handsome winky prince Tristan.

He had attracted a small group of onlookers, but Lana and Tristan hadn't even seemed to notice them.

Elphias turned to go, but Byra grabbed his arm. "Elphias-"

Lana looked up, saw him, and smiled. Normally, he would have blushed. But now there was an empty hollow feeling in his stomach.

And then he saw Amira across from him, and their eyes met. She raised an eyebrow, then walked around the circle over to him. Byra stiffened at his side.

"Would you like to dance?"

He looked at Tristan and Lana, then back at Amira. He didn't think, not of Amira constant coldness towards him, not of her representing everything Elphias had been taught to be against.

"Alright."

§

"That was so much fun!" Lana said, as she, Byra, Amira, and Elphias walked back to the girls' room.

"Glad you enjoyed yourself." Elphias muttered.

Byra shot him a look he couldn't interpret, shaking her head.

"What's up with you?" Lana asked, annoyed.

"Nothing." Elphias tried to say. "Nothing's up."

Byra buried her face in her hooves.

"Elphias-"

"He's jealous." Byra blurted out.

For a moment, Lana just looked confused. Then she began to laugh, a long, loud, cackle. She didn't stop for a long time.

Elphias frowned. "What-"

"I'm not interested in him that way. We were just dancing." Lana said when she was done.

"That's not what it looked like to me."

"How old is he?"

"14." Elphias said, annoyed. "How old are you?"

"17. That's 3 years older than he is."

"That's not such a big deal! I'm 2 years older than you are."

There was a silence for a moment, as Elphias realized what he had said.

"I'm not interested." Lana whispered. "And it wouldn't matter to you if I was. You don't own me."

And then she sped up ahead of them, leaving them completely behind.

"You have nothing to worry about." said Amira.

He turned to look at her, and there was something bitter on her face. She turned and walked back down the hall in the opposite direction of her room, out of sight.

§

Amira walked quickly and alone through the streets of the Emerald City. Though the party had officially ended, she could hear snatches of drunken singing.

There, the Hymdjer mansion. _Her_ mansion. Why was she filling up with dread as she approached it? It could have just been what she was going to do, but she shouldn't have a problem with that either. She wasn't sure why she did…

She walked inside, and the streets of the Emerald City were now the halls of her father's city home. She walked into her room, sent the servant, she couldn't remember his name right now and she didn't care, out of the room with a single icy glare.

She sat down on her bed, closed her eyes, and began to sing.

She hadn't been planning to, and the song was full of feelings she didn't know she had. Envy. Despair.

Love.

She opened her eyes again, startled, then walked over to her desk to take out her crystal ball, and imagined Father's face, and remembering a story he had told her.

A story about a servant woman, who had defied him. And had lived.

She had stolen a baby from him, one that would have been just like her- or who would have died. A baby named Moasha. The servant had actually cut off her hand as it had been the only way to also cut off the bracelet she had worn, for she had worn a bracelet instead of a ring. Without it she should have died-

 _She felt as if her very insides were freezing- except that they were not becoming numb, but screaming in pain. She dropped the ring and crumpled to the floor, wanting to scream but lacking the strength. The ring was only a few feet away from her, her salvation, but she couldn't reach for it…_

Father's face appeared. He seemed to get more frustrated every time she summoned him, frustrated by her continued failure. She should have been excited to erase that frustration.

"Do you actually have something to report this time?" He asked impatiently.

"Why do you need me here?" Amira blurted out. "We are more powerful than anyone in Oz, we could _take_ your throne for you."

He grinded his teeth together. "Don't you know history? Oz only allows people who they love to rule them, and they love Glinda. Even you and the other 4 together do not have the power to keep the entire country in check."

Four. Amira had never known there was only four others. She had always thought that there was more.

He was still looking at her, and she wasstill reviewing her plan in her head. She closed her eyes.

"I think I know how to change that.

Yeah, I started this chapter thinking I was going to take an Amira break…

I'm probably not going to use the time-travel thing, because it feels deus-ex-machina, but I wrote it here anyway to give me the option.

Please review!


	12. Chapter 12

Me: I own Wicked. (nose grows) Okay, I don't.

The characters and world of Oz belong to Stephen Schwartz. Or Gregory Maguire. Or L Frank Baum. The point is that they don't belong to me. (This disclaimer may or may not have been copy and pasted from an earlier chapter)

Anyway, this is going to be a really big chapter. I broke my one POV for chapter rule again, because what was going to be Amira's chapter ended up being about a page long, and if I stretched it out too much it would have gotten annoying and given stuff away.

As soon as the fight began, she was able to push all her feelings into a corner in the back of her mind, replaced by her complete and total concentration on the fight. Her opponent was her equal in magic, her equal in skill, her equal in everything. Amira had lost a hundred fights to her, and won a hundred more. But now, she fought harder than ever, as if her life depended on it… which it did.

She didn't know how long she had been fighting before her opponent's fist came up to punch Amira, and she grabbed it reflexively before it could hit her face. She felt her opponent's silver ring, cold and hard, under her hand and pulled it off.

The fight was over.

The fight was over, and with it, Amira's temporary emotional numbness. The other girl crumpled to the ground, and opened her mouth, a scream of sheer agony clearly written across her face, but no sound came out. Amira sunk to her knees behind her, grabbing her hand with the hand that wasn't holding the ring.

"Cheating." The other girl barely managed to gasp it out, but Father heard it anyway- perhaps because the entire room was completely silent.

"There's no such thing as cheating." He said. "She exploited a weakness, which you failed to defend."

Amira wanted to speak, but couldn't. She simply stared at the other girl, able to see not only pain but anger, that made her flinch, but also pleading.

She couldn't give her the ring back. To do so would be to betray Father, and she couldn't do that. It was a simple fact in her life, As unquestionable and unchanging as the sun rising in the East and setting in the West.

So she tucked her arm below the other girl's back, though whom she was trying to comfort, she would never know. It was the moment that she would always remember in perfect clarity, that would haunt her for the rest of her life.

"I love you." Amira whispered, not even sure whether or not the other girl had heard.

The other girl's face was shiny with sweat and tears, and Amira was sure that her own was as well. Her hair had fallen free of the bun Amira had so lovingly put up that morning.

Amira didn't take her eyes away from her's as she sunk her blade into her Lana's heart-

No.

Amira looked down, and saw that the ring she was holding was not a ring, but a gold necklace. The other girl's hair was brown and not black, her eyes dark and not grey, and she was not in Father's throne room but the Emerald City.

Amira woke with a start.

The room was dark, and quiet. Peaceful, almost, a stark contrast to her dream, and what the next day would ultimately bring. Apparently, she had not cried out and woken her roommates.

She swung her legs over the bed, stood up, and walked slowly out to the balcony. She needed fresh, cool air, a view of the city, and the stars.

But, not for the first time, even that was not able to rid the pit in her stomach. She had had that nightmare so many times before, but never was it Lana that she had been fighting.

She closed her eyes and leaned against the back of her chair. It was going to be a long night.

§

Lana woke up with an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach, and wasn't sure why.

"Good news! She's dead!"

Lana threw her pillow at the window. She regretted it after she did, but fortunately, it didn't actually hit it.

"Was that really necessary?" Byra asked.

"They woke me up." Lana climbed out of bed. "Happy Ortibonitatem day." She said, reffering to the official name of the holiday that celebrated the death of the Wicked Witch of the West. It meant, 'Rise of goodness.'

"The Wicked Witch of the West is dead!"

"Is that news?" Lana asked.

"How about: The Wicked Witch has been dead for 22 years!" Byra actually managed to sing the entire line in one breath.

"Better news." Lana said. "I've been here for a year now."

Byra grinned, and Lana climbed out of bed- and was suddenly hit with images that seemed more imagined than anything else- an angry mob. Glinda's face with tears pouring down it. A green face, screaming.

"Are you alright?"

"I don't feel so well." Lana said, entirely truthfully.

"Does that mean you should skip celebrations?" Byra asked, looking concerned.

"She can't." Amira stepped into the room already dressed in white and blue, her dress less- revealing than Amira's usually were. The only jewelry she wore was a pair of gold earrings and the silver ring. Lana felt a flash of inexplicable irritation. "She already missed most of the Malaemortia, if she misses today, people will say she's one of the witch's supporters."

"Why do I care what people say." Lana said, more out of irritation than anything else.

Amira shrugged. "Just saying."

Lana grabbed a dark pink ball-gown trimmed with gold. "Never mind. I'm going."

"Are you sure?" Asked Byra.

"It's nothing really."

And a couple of minutes later, she was dressed in the outfit she had picked out complete with a pair of long, gold gloves. She didn't put her hair up, for once not in the mood to dress up.

"Ready to go?" Asked Byra, who was dressed in dark red.

Lana hesitated, a sudden feeling of dread rising in her stomach.

"Are you okay?" Byra asked again.

"I-"

The feeling passed.

"I'm fine. Let's go."

"Wait!" It was Amira. Lana turned, irritated, and saw that the other girl's lips were moving quickly, as if wanting to form words, that her voice did not want heard. For a moment that felt longer than it was, the two of them just stood there, looking at each other. Lana's pulse was rushing at a hundred miles per hour.

"Right." Amira said suddenly, and the moment- and all that it could have been- was broken. Lana felt her muscles, which had tensed up moments before, relax. "I mean-it's nothing."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Lana asked, shoving aside- disappointment? Relief? "Let's go."

§

Glinda, Elphias, and Shartine were waiting on a dais in the ballroom, with a door behind it that lead back into the palace. Glinda was already singing something about a new dawn and the inevitable triumph of goodness over evil. She was dressed in pink and green, with a large bag and a pink flower in her perfectly coiffed hair. She didn't show any indication that suggested she had realized that the girls had walked onto the stage behind her.

Lana scanned the sea of joyful faces, and for an instant, their happiness turned to anger and fear, and crude weapons appeared in their hands. Not a crowd, but a mob. Then, they were just guests at the party again.

Lana backed away, certain this time, that she had not imagined it. She remembered stories about people who had caught glimpses of the future, and wondered if she had caught a glimpse of the past…

"Would Dorothy's companions like to come up and tell the story?"

Lana let out a breath she hadn't realized that she was holding as the Scarecrow, Tin man, and courageous lion walked up to the dais. The Scarecrow waved at her, and Lana hesitated, not sure whether she should wave back.

She didn't pay much attention to the story, and though there was some in the audience who she saw were enthralled by the trio's tale, she also saw some who were surreptitiously talking to their neighbor.

"Hey." She muttered to Elphias.

"We shouldn't talk." He muttered back.

Lana sighed, bored.

Elphias excused himself, however, as the Courageous Lion described how the wizard had bestowed upon the three, as a reward for their braverism, a heart, a brain, and courage. It took a good twenty minutes even after that for the story to finally finish, and the party to start up again.

The Emerald City was singing, and Lana couldn't join in, the crowd that normally energized her seemed wrong, distorted somehow. Lana moaned.

"You sure you're alright?" Byra asked, looking over.

Lana managed a nod.

The song finished and suddenly a young girl, who looked no older than 8 or 9, dressed as Dorothy, ran across the ballroom shrieking with mock terror. She was holding a bucket of water, and water sloshed out with every step. Everyone stopped singing to watch as a woman with green face paint ran after her, screaming, "I'll get you my pretty, and your little dog too!" And cackling.

When the mock-witch was in the very center of the ballroom, just in front of the dais, the mock-Dorothy suddenly turned and heaved the bucket of water in the mock-witch's face.

There was a certain air of ridiculousness to the whole thing, a good portion of the green face paint was washing off in the water. But there was also something faintly unsettling as well, as the witch sank to the ground and screamed, looking only a little to the left of Lana, a sound of agony but maybe it was also- pleading. Like a trapped, frightened animal. And accusing, as if to remind the crowd that they were celebrating violence and death. Lana wondered how anyone could have portrayed the Witch so sympathetically today of all days, then wondered if Lana was hearing things in the scream that weren't there. It seemed to be going on forever…

"Stop!"

The outburst came from Glinda, who looked a little paler than usual. Everyone turned to look at her in surprise.

"No reenactments indoors!" Shartine called. "Someone could slip and fall!"

And as this was happening, a voice whispered in her ear: "I'm sorry Lana."

Shock. That was the overwhelming feeling of that particular moment, as she felt a hand grab hold of her necklace, and start to pull it off over her head. Some part of her body must have realized that her brain would not make a command, and turned, her back to the audience hiding her face, as she tried to struggle against the hand- against Amira.

She felt the chain of the necklace threaten to choke her and she stopped, allowing Amira to pull it off. And then the shock spread to the other people on the stage. To Byra, to her left, who let out a terrified scream. To Elphias, to her right, who gasped. To Shartine, standing behind his son, whose mouth fell open. And to Glinda. All the blood had drained from her face as she stepped towards Lana, almost as if she didn't realize it, hand outstretched towards her.

But one person was not shocked, was not thinking about everything that this meant. One person knew everything. Amira and Lana fought, Amira trying to keep the necklace- her salvation- out of Lana's reach while trying to turn her around to face the crowd, who was clearly watching, confused. Her face was completely blank, and Lana was sure it was a mask, but not whether it hid triumph or regret. And as Elphias recovered from his surprise, and ran towards her, Amira finally succeeded in turning her around to face the revelers.

And then the entire room filled with screams and angry shouts as Lana struggled against Amira for 1 second-2 seconds- 3 seconds- and as Amira finally let go, and allowed Lana to run, without thinking, out the door in the back of the room deep into the Emerald Palace. Both girls knew why Amira had let Lana go: because the damage was already done.

Everyone in the ballroom had seen that Lana's face was emerald green.

 _Author's note:_

Who saw that coming? Please review, I was really worried about whether I had the right amount of foreshadowing.


	13. Chapter 13

Okay, this next 3 chapters are all going to start just after the last chapter ended, but say what's happening with different characters.

Byra stared at the door which Lana had just run through. She could hear the crowd shouting, but couldn't make out any words beyond one. _Wicked._

Lana's skin was emerald green. Just like the Wicked Witch's. Was there a connection? Had Lana been lying to her? Was she ever truly her friend? Lana must have known, it was why she never took the necklace off. _What aren't you telling me Lana? Can I ever trust you again?_

Amira stepped forward, her face hard. She was unrecognisable, neither the silly, shallow bigot nor the girl who she had become over the last month or so. "The witch has deceived us!" Lana. She was talking about Lana. "She has come to us as begging for sympathy, when in reality she is the spawn of the wickedest witch there ever was!"

The crowd roared angrily. _Wicked. Wicked. Wicked._

 _No._

"Kill the witch!"

 _No!_

Byra knew that there were things that Lana hadn't told her, but that was no reason to let the crowd- the mob- kill her for the color of her skin and a mother that she may or may not have had. Both factors beyond her control. She had to trust that Lana had an explanation.

She turned and ran for the door, but as she went, Amira grabbed hold of her wrist. "Don't." She said, not angrily, but firmly and quietly.

"Let go of me you traitor!" She screamed, not caring that there were probably hundreds of eyes on her, that those that the eyes belonged to would remember her as the Animal who defended the, as Amira had put it, "spawn of the wickedest witch there ever was." She struggled and kicked, but Amira's grip was firm, impressively so.

"In the name of goodness, think about what you are doing!" Glinda called to the crowd. Amira let go of Byra to turn to face Glinda, and Byra sprinted back into the hallway behind the ballroom. She had to find Lana. There was no plan beyond that, no true thought really. Her friend was in trouble and she needed to go to her.

But Lana had already left, most likely wanting to put as much distance between the crowd as possible. Byra ran down the hall that led to their room, thinking that it was the most likely place that Lana would go to in a state of panic.

 _The daughter of the Wicked Witch of the West. How is that even possible, she's only 17. The witch has been dead for 22 years today. It's not true. It can't be true. The skin's all some freaky coincidence. Maybe everyone who's really powerful has green skin. Didn't Glinda say she was something? A child of 2 worlds? Maybe the Witch was too, and anyone who's a child of two worlds is green. Whatever that means. Yes, that's probably it. When they think it through, they'll realize that._

But Byra couldn't stop thinking about how Lana had worn that necklace every time she had seen her, and how she had never noticed. How she had came up with the theory that Amira's ring, _Amira the traitor,_ how the ring canged her appearance to make her more attractive, about Lana's talent, about how she had looked at the broom of the Wicked Witch of the West… there had been such awe on her face… she had read about the Wicked Witch of the West too… Byra found herself going through everything she had seen Lana do in the year that she had known her in her head, everything that could be explained if… if…

If what Amira said was true. If Lana truly was the daughter of the most wicked figure in history, the Wicked Witch of the West.

 _No._

"Hey!"

She turned. A human boy, about her age, one that Byra had seen before,though she wasn't sure where, stood before her. He had brown hair, brown eyes, a face that was easy to forget, average build, and average height.

"You're Byra?"

"Who are you?" Byra asked, the words tumbling out of her, uncontrollable. Her voice was shaking, probably because her whole body was shaking, and she couldn't stop.

"I'm no one." The boy said. His voice was urgent, and he wasn't looking at her, but behind her. "Now run."

"What?"

"Run. The crowd's coming this way, and if you stand in their path they'll rip you to shreds. Or you'll get caught in the crossfire."

"I don't care. They're going to kill my friend-"

"Leave her." He snapped. "There is nothing you can do for her-"

"No! I can't just-"

"You have to." He said harshly. "And I'm not going to stand here arguing about it a second longer. I'm risking a fate worse than death by even talking to you."

Byra hesitated. She had no idea where Lana even was after all. "No way!"

She heard yells behind her, and realized that the crowd was coming down the hall behind her.

"If your friend _is_ Elphaba Thropp's daughter-"

"Who?!"

"She'll find her way out. Do you want to be around to help her when she does?"

The boy grabbed her hoof and led her, running, through a side corner that she had ever seen before before she could answer. Byra's feet made the decision for her, running with the strange boy.

They ran on, through what felt to Byra like a whole different palace. The corridors were oddly empty, perhaps everyone had gone to the ballroom on this fateful day. Finally, they arrived outside. She turned to thank the boy, or maybe snap at him, blame him for everything that had transpired because she needed to yell at someone right now, even if it wasn't rational, but he had vanished.

It was chaos outside. A good chunk of the party guests had come out with makeshift weapons; mostly glass bowls, chairs and tables. She saw a lot of torn fancy clothes. And she saw Amira, their new leader, and Glinda. Glinda. Clearly their quarry, they had cornered her against the wall of the palace. Almost no one noticed one Zebra girl, stopping at the outskirts of the crowd. Glinda's eyes met hers, and she mouthed, _Run._ Then she sent a bolt of magic at Amira. Whatever it was, Amira blocked it easily, advancing towards her, for once exactly as she truly was. A predator.

 _Run._ Glinda mouthed again.

Byra turned and ran, not looking where she was going, just trying to get away. Emerald streets turned to Emerald alleys, she had entered the dark side of the Emerald city. But she hardly noticed. She just ran.

Eventually, she could run no longer. Eventually, the adrenaline rush ended. And so she stopped, falling to the ground panting.

 _Lana._

She remembered what the boy had said, about Lana being the daughter of someone named Elphaba Thropp, but didn't understand it. The boy probably wasn't trustworthy anyway.

Was she dead now? Could Byra have helped her?

 _Amira._

Lana had been right about her, she had been plotting something. She wondered how she had known, and whether it had something to do with one of the secrets she had been keeping, or if she had just been good at reading people. She wondered if she would ever know.

 _Elphias_.

How could she have not thought of him until now? What had he had done, when the crowd had turned on Lana and his mother? Had he survived? Would she ever see him again? And if she did, how could she ever tell him that she had abandoned his mother?

 _Glinda._

She couldn't forget what she had seen, how trapped Glinda had been, how she had ran. Lana and Elphias might have escaped the mob, she didn't know, but Glinda…

When she closed her eyes, all she could see was the angry and fearful mob that had been a joyful crowd minutes before, Lana's face turned suddenly green, and Glinda.

 _What do I do now? What in Oz do I do now?_

She had no idea.

Yeah, that was kind of short but that was a good stopping point. Amira's point of view will be the next chapter.

Please review!


	14. Chapter 14

Alright, as I said during the last chapter, this picks up after chapter 12 ends, and takes place during Chapter 13.

This was the moment that she had been planning for a month. This was a battle. This was something that needed her complete focus, and that forced all her doubts, all thoughts of Lana into a corner in the back of her mind.

She had always looked to see if Lana's necklace was there, tucked under her dress, because she had thought that it had meant that she was Moasha. And it was because of that that she had noticed, during that party when the Vinkun Royal family had came, that it was green. She had guessed then, and she had checked that night. Taken the necklace off when the other 2 girls had been asleep. She had imagined throwing it off the balcony, the way one imagines ringing the alarm to signal a fire but knows that they never would.

Now, she knew she couldn't hesitate, couldn't lose the element of surprise. She stepped forward, to where Glinda had been standing moments before. "The witch has deceived us! She has come to us as begging for sympathy, when in reality she is the spawn of the wickedest witch there ever was!" She had planned the words so carefully. Witch. Not girl. Not woman. Spawn. Not child. Not daughter. Nothing that would allow either the wicked witch created by Jeema Morrible so many years ago or the one she was creating now any humanity.

And she saw that she was succeeding, turning joy into fear and then into hate. She knew that no one would question what she would say now, and she new that she had to say it.

"Kill the Witch!"

The crowd roared like a dragon, and Byra ran past.

 _Byra._

She hadn't thought of Byra at all. She turned and grabbed her wrists, without thinking about how it would look. There was no reason to let Byra run to her death.

"Don't." She said softly. She wondered if the crowd had even heard her.

"Let go of me you traitor!" Byra screamed, fighting her. Amira held firm. _Byra hates me now. Lana must hate me too. And Tyron._ She had most likely lost all of the friends that she had made during her year in the Emerald Palace, although Byra and Lana weren't exactly friends. _They don't matter._

"In the name of goodness, think about what you are doing!" Amira turned, and all thoughts of Byra were forced backward as well, because Glinda had taken the bait. "You have no proof-"

Proof didn't matter. Not really. "Would you have us wait for proof while the Witch slaughters our families, casts her curses upon us, and ruins our country as the Wicked Witch of the West did before her?!" Amira fired back, trying to look the part of an outraged and fearful defender of Oz.

"She has been here for a year, here in the heart of Oz, and done no such thing." Glinda was trying to keep an even tone, having cast a spell on her voice to magnify it, but her voice was shaking. "She has-"

No one was listening, and members of the crowd were already pushing up the stairs. Amira needed Glinda to be heard. "What did you just say?" She asked in a voice that she hoped sounded dangerous and threatening.

Glinda realized what Amira was doing, she might have known for longer. Now she spoke more quietly, so that only Amira could hear. "Don't do this. Whatever you want, it's not worth it."

Amira hesitated, for the first time feeling guilty about what she was doing to Glinda. She didn't care for her, but she understood her, understood that there was pain behind her smile, that Amira was manipulating years of guilt- and she understood that Glinda understood her as well, or as much as it was possible. And most of all, because she understood that Glinda was who _she_ could grow to be.

"Wickedness must be punished!" Amira half screamed, half sang, and Glinda yelled, "She was born 5 years after the Wicked Witch died! How could the Wicked Witch give birth when she is 5 years dead?!"

It was a good point, and it stopped the crowd temporarily. But Amira knew that Glinda had used that argument as a last resort. Because there was an explanation, one that Glinda had probably thought of, one that she wouldn't want to push the crowd towards.

Amira chose not to use that explanation. "She's a witch! She can change her appearance at will! She's older than she looks!"

The crowd roared again, and no one pointed out that if Lana could change her appearance at will, she wouldn't need the necklace in the first place. They surged forward, and Glinda turned and threw a spell at Amira.

The crowd saw. It didn't matter that Amira had blocked it. It didn't matter that they didn't even know what it would have actually done.

"Did you just attack me?" Amira screamed.

There had been rumors circling for years about Glinda and the Wicked Witch of the West. Father hadn't even had to fan the flames that much. But it had been easy to dismiss as a crazy conspiracy theory.

Until now.

"Glinda has always been allied with the Wicked Witch of the West!" Someone screamed.

"It's true! I know someone who knows someone that went to school with her, she shared a room with the Witch!"

Amira looked around and realized that she and Glinda were alone on the dais, Elphias, Shartine, and Byra had all left at some point. _Good. It's better this way._

"Glinda has betrayed us!" Amira screamed.

Glinda raised her wand to summon her bubble, and began to float across the room, and out the window. The crowd split up, some going after Lana, but Amira leading her own group after Glinda. Glinda was the important one. Father didn't care about Lana, she had told herself, choosing not to think about the way his eyes had lit up when she had told him her suspicions that Lana was Elphaba Thropp's daughter.

Outside, Glinda was not as high in her bubble as she could have been. Lucky for her, because Amira threw a spell at it, popping it. Glinda still fell several feet, probably breaking something, but survived.

For now.

Glinda managed to climb to her feet using the wall behind her, allowing the crowd to corner her against it. She shot another spell at Amira, which she blocked again. Someone in the crowd smashed a glass bowl against her face.

 _Try to capture her alive._ Amira remember the cold calculating hatred behind Father's eyes, that she saw whenever Glinda was brought up.

"Stop!" When the crowd failed to do so, Amira used her own powers to push those nearest to Glinda back. She knew that she had to be careful, that the crowd could turn on her even more easily than it had on Glinda.

"Ketil and Jimto." She addressed 2 members of the Gale force that had joined the crowd by name. "Take her to the dungeon. I shall come with you to make sure that she does not use her magic to escape." When the crowd started to protest, she said, "She shall be tried and then executed!" And they quieted down. "The rest of you, after Wicked Witch's daughter!"

§

Amira wished that Glinda would scream at her. Would yell at her as Byra had. Or at least would say _something_.

Glinda looked at her as they walked, but she didn't glare. The look almost said, "I'm so disappointed in you. I thought you were better than this." Or maybe Amira was imagining things. That was why Glinda's silence was driving her crazy. Because she didn't know.

She was still holding Lana's necklace. She realized abruptly.

After Glinda had been imprisoned, and Amira cast the necessary spells to prevent her from using magic to escape, and a few extra to make Glinda look more dangerous, she didn't join the mob that was going after Lana. There was work to do, and she would do it, but she couldn't do it now.

Even if Tyron wouldn't join her, she loved the roof. Loved how it was the only place that she could let her guard down. Loved how in the day she could see the city, and in the night she could see the stars. It helped her relax.

She should contact Father.

She could never contact him here, not because it was impossible but because it would feel as if Father was invading, to hold his crystal ball, to see his face, on this roof. She could leave though. She could contact him in her room, now that her roommates were… gone. She told herself that she should do it, but felt no urgency. No desire to stand, to leave, to make her way down.

 _I will though. I will._

Please review!


	15. Chapter 15

Right so, this is the last of the three chapters that begins where Chapter 12 ends, it's happening at the same time as chapters 14 and 13, but from Elphias's perspective.

Elphias gasped, as Amira pulled the necklace off. Lana's face was bright green.

For a moment, he just stood frozen, as thoughts and possibilities flew through his mind, faster than he could comprehend. He didn't know how long it was before he realized that it didn't matter, not right now, because his friend needed help.

He ran forward, but before he could get to her, Amira succeeded in turning Lana around to face the crowd. The crowd was shouting. Elphias continued to run, as Lana turned and ran out the door at the back of the room, just behind the dais, and his mother grabbed his hand.

He turned, and for a moment they just stared at each other. "I have to help her." He said, finally.

A tear slipped down her cheek. "I know."

She took off a large green purse with a pink flap that she had been wearing, and handed it to him, and her speech took on a quiet, urgent tone. "Give this to Lana, she should know what to do with it. Go to my room, it has the best security, don't let anyone in except your father or I." She pulled him into a quick hug. "I love you."

It was then that Elphias fully realized the danger of the situation, that this could be the last time he saw his mother. "I love you too."

"The witch has deceived us! She has come to us as begging for sympathy, when in reality she is the spawn of the wickedest witch there ever was!" Called Amira.

His mother released him, and he quickly hugged his father and turned to run after Lana. Behind him, he could hear his mother shout, "In the name of goodness, think about what you are doing!"

And then he ran into the palace. He hesitated, he couldn't see Lana anywhere. He elected to run straight ahead, and, luckily for him, found her relatively quickly. "Lana!"

She turned, eyes wide, then visibly relaxed when she saw who he was. "Elphias!"

He ran forward. Behind him, he heard yells and realized they were running out of time. He grabbed her hand with the one that was not holding the purse. "C'mon!"

They didn't speak, they just ran, up flight after flight of stairs, through the labyrinth of hallways. Elphias could not help but look back 7 times, and 4 of the times he did he actually saw the crowd behind him. Even when he couldn't, their shouts were a constant background noise to their running, and he knew they couldn't be too far behind.

Finally, they reached his parents' rooms, at the top of one of the towers. They ran inside.

"The key should be in the closet!" Elphias called, slamming the doors shut and holding it closed for a long, panicked moment before he saw Lana ran over, with the key, and managed to lock the door with it.

For the moment, they were safe.

Elphias let his hands drop, and picked up the purse, which had fallen when he held the door shut. Lana turned and moved away from the door and into the living room. Elphias followed her.

"Please don't stare at me like that."

She sounded so unsure as she spoke. Elphias wanted to tell her that she shouldn't be ashamed, that her skin was beautiful, but he didn't dare. "We're safe now." He said instead.

"No." She said, her voice shaking. "No, you should never have come, now they'll be after you too, they'll never stop hunting us just like they never stopped hunting my mother-"

She stopped short, realizing what she said.

Elphias walked over to his mother's desk, and picked up of a picture of her. She was standing in the Emerald City, wearing a yellow sundress, and beaming in a way that Elphias had never seen in real life. He lifted it up and handed it to Lana. "I can't activate it."

"What?"

Elphias knew he wasn't being very clear, but he didn't know how to explain. "I don't have the power."

Lana closed her eyes for a moment, and then another girl materialized in the picture next to Glinda, green, dressed in black, with a long, pointy black hat, also smiling. Elphaba. Glinda lifted an arm and wrapped it around her, pulling her close to her.

As Elphias looked at the picture, he realized for the first time how much Lana resembled Elphaba. It wasn't just the green skin, it was the dark eyes that he admired so much, and the shape of the face.

"Our mothers were friends." He explained.

"I know." She whispered. She set the picture down, and Elphaba faded away.

He hesitated. "My mother would tell me stories about her growing up. Elphaba. She was my hero." Their eyes met, and Elphias looked away uncomfortably. "Is she really dead?"

"No." Banging noises came from the other side of the door. "Could we- move farther away from the door?"

"It wouldn't make a difference if they broke through."

"It might make me less- nervous."

They climbed upstairs, to what had once been an attic. "My mother faked her death. She was never really allergic to water. She fell through a trap door. My father was the scarecrow-"

"The scarecrow?"

"Fiyero."

"I thought he died."

She shook her head. "The gale force would have beaten him to death, but my mother cast a spell on him. It was supposed to make him invincible. It did. But it also turned him into a talking scarecrow."

"Why didn't they tell my mother they were alive?"

"They wanted to." Her voice was defensive now. "Especially my mother."

That didn't answer his question, but he didn't push the matter further.

"And I wanted to tell you." She hesitated. "I grew up in the uncrossable desert. I could see Oz from there, I guess- I guess I had mixed feelings about it. My father would bring books back when he went there, it always seemed like a paradise. But I guess- I guess I sort of thought everyone there was an idiot too. Because they believed in the wizard and not my mother."

She stopped, and looked at him, as if she expected him to say something. But Elphias didn't know how to respond.

"When I came here- you and Byra were my first real friends."

They looked at each other for a moment. He was so aware of how quickly he was breathing, and how his pulse was rushing, of every detail of Lana's face. And then, she kissed him.

He closed his eyes, as he lost any sense he had of time, of how long the kiss was happening. She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him closer. He didn't know what he was thinking, perhaps he wasn't thinking anything at all.

He was the one who stopped, simply because he needed to breathe. She stepped back, blushing a dark yellow color against the green. For a long moment, they just looked at each other.

"I'm sorry." She said. "I mean, I just, I don't know what I was thinking-" Her voice broke off. "It would be helpful if you said something now."

"I want-" Elphias hesitated. "I like you. I want to be more than just friends."

And then he kissed her again, and for a moment, he forgot the danger that they were all in as he felt her relax against him. A particularly loud noise from the other side of the door downstairs broke the illusion, and she pulled back. "We should- prepare for the possibility that they might break the door down."

"Right." Elphias said. They didn't say anything, or move, for a long moment, then he said, "Do you think they will?"

"Even if they don't, we'll need food eventually."

"So will they."

"They could wait outside in shifts."

"That seems a bit too organized for an angry mob."

"But not too organized for Amira."

Elphias didn't have an answer for that.

"There's probably too many to fight…"

Elphias eyes fell on his mother's purse, which he had put down on a table when he went upstairs. _His mother's purse. Right._ He picked it up and held it out to Lana. "I was supposed to give this to you."

She took it, and opened it. Inside was a very old looking book… one that Elphias recognised instantly.

"The grimmerie." Lana whispered.

"Of course." Elphias said. " _Of course._ You could put the levitation spell on- on a pillow or something."

Wordlessly, she opened it. Elphias leaned over her shoulder, but to his disappointment, he couldn't make anything out. From his mother's descriptions, he had always imagined that it would be as if it were in another language. Instead, he had the distinct feeling that words should be there, but they blurred together in a three-dimensional mass instead. Looking at it made his head hurt.

"Can you make anything out?" He asked.

Lana frowned. "I-I don't know."

He waited.

"It's like- like when you're reading something in a language you don't recognize, but you can still sort of guess what some of the words mean, because they have a similar meaning in english. Only it's not really a foreign language- it would help if I knew which spell was which."

He frowned. "I think you're thinking about it too much."

She shot him an exasperated look. "This thing is dangerous. My aunt tried to cast a love spell on someone and caused his heart to shrink into nothing."

"Wait, you mean Boq? The tin man?"

She nodded. "I can't just open up to a random page and start chanting, I could get us killed. Or worse."

Elphias didn't ask what 'worse' was, he wasn't even entirely sure whether Lana knew. "We're desperate."

"They haven't broken down the door yet." When he didn't say anything, she said, "I could see if I could try to learn it."

"Anything I can do to help?"

"See if you can make a makeshift rope or something. We need a good plan B."

§

"Uh!"

Elphias looked over as Lana slammed the book shut in frustration. "I've been at it for- what, how long?"

"I think about 45 minutes."

"45 minutes?"

Elphias nodded.

"That is a very strong door. Anyway, I'm no closer to figuring anything out."

Elphias picked it up.

"Elphias don't-"

"I wasn't going to." He said, frustrated at the idea that the answer was right in front of them, that Lana should be able to access it- but was too afraid to. He slid it back in the purse. "Look, are you sure you can't-"

There was a loud bang and the shouts, which had been getting less and less enthusiastic as time went on, suddenly turned into a roar of triumph. Elphias and Lana exchanged a look of pure panic, then ran across the room to the top of the stairs, where they could see a flood of angry partiers running toward them.

"Go!" Elphias screamed.

"What!?"

Elphias ran down the stairs, his heart in his throat. He glanced behind him, and saw that Lana stood frozen at the top of the staircase. He threw the grimmerie in the bag to her, and she caught it, seemingly reflexively. "Run!"

He reached the mob and tried to fight, but it was all he could to defend himself.

"Elphias c'mon!"

He glanced above him, up the stairs. Lana had tied his makeshift rope, which was probably too short, to the windowsill and was crouching on the window sill, clutching the other end, wearing the purse with the grimmerie.

 _I'll never make it._

She dropped her end of the rope and ran towards him, as something hit him on the head and he blacked out.

He didn't see her stand there for a moment, hesitating. He didn't hear her yell, "I'll come back for you!" And he didn't see her run back, grab the other end of the rope, and jump out the window.

 **End of Part 1**

Please review! I'm not great at romance, so I'm kind of worried about that chapter, especially the kissing part.


	16. Part 2 Chapter 1

Right so, I just realized I forgot to put a disclaimer on the last couple chapters, and some of you might think I own Wicked. I don't.

For a heart-stopping moment, Lana felt as if she was free-falling. Then, the rope ran out of slack and she stopped, hard, her hands sliding down and the weight of her whole body threatening to pull her arms out of her sockets.

She made the mistake of looking down, and saw that she was still high enough that the people below looked like ants. She froze, literally shaking, causing the makeshift rope to shake as well. She had never been afraid of heights, but you didn't need a fear of heights to be scared when you were hanging on to a rope made out of _actual bed sheets_ this high up.

Ok, she needed to figure something out. Because the witch hunters were probably smart enough to _cut the rope_ pretty quickly.

 _I am Lana Tiggular. I am the daughter of Elphaba Thropp and Fiyero Tiggular. And I will not die here._

She looked ahead, and saw that she was about the same height as the roof, but, unfortunately, on the wrong side of the tower. She closed her eyes, then lifted her feet and put them against the tower wall, trying to walk them around.

One hand slipped off the rope.

She had never been more scared in her life. She tried to lift the hand up to grab it again, but it was shaking so badly. She clutched the rope with her other hand harder.

 _So much for defying gravity._

She laughed, in a deranged, hysterical sort of way. _I'm officially going crazy._

She reminded herself that she _couldn't_ die now, because she had promised to go back for Elphias, and she couldn't do that if she was spattered on the ground Oz-knows-how-far below.

She managed to grab the rope with her other hand. _Okay. Okay. Now I just need to get to the other side of the tower._

She heard a noise above her, and looked up. Someone was using a broken glass shard to start to saw through the rope.

She walked her feet up again, this time succeeding in getting halfway around the tower before the rope was cut.

As she fell, she managed to reach out and grab the edge of the roof with one hand.

 _Thank Oz._

She felt her hand slip again. She managed to lift up the other hand, and grab the edge of the roof.

 _This is just like a jungle gym._

 _You've never played on a jungle gym._

 _Well if six year olds can do it, so can we._

 _But when the six year olds on a jungle gym fall, they can get up and try again._

She clenched her teeth, and tried to walk her feet up the wall again. Her shoes slid down too easily, so she worked them off with her feet, allowing them to fall to the ground, far below. She had taken off her gloves when she was trying to understand the grimmerie, under the vain hope that it would help. She was glad now, she suspected she would be dead by now if she hadn't.

Alright. Alright. There was a window sill at about her waist. She bent one leg, managing to get her foot on top of it, wincing. She wasn't terribly flexible, and she could feel the strain of stretching her leg this much. She pushed up, adjusting her weight to be on her hands and moving her hands forward so that they were farther in front of her, and mover her other foot to be on the windowsill, looked up- and saw that Amira was standing less than a foot away from her, staring at her, mouth open in surprise.

Lana didn't think, she just reached out and grabbed Amira's hand, and as she did, lost her balance and started to fall backwards, Amira sliding towards the edge with her.

Lana shut her eyes and screamed, as Amira managed to grab hold of the same tower that Lana had fallen from, stopping both girls from tumbling to their deaths. Lana opened her eyes as she felt herself suddenly stop. "Try to push me off." She panted. "And I'll take you down with me."

"I don't want you dead." Amira said, the stone cold expression on her face at odds with her words.

"What if I want you dead?" Lana snapped back.

"You're hardly in a position to make threats." Amira slid a fraction of an inch closer to the edge, struggling for a moment, before managing to regain tenuous control. "I suggest you climb up now, I don't think I can hold this position for much longer."

Lana hesitated, wary.

"Today please."

She managed to pull herself up.

"Good." Amira stepped back from the edge, and Lana wondered silently what Amira was doing on the roof. "Now-"

Lana lunged at her, grabbing her wrist that had the ring. Amira punched her with the fist that Lana was not holding, and she let go, then ran at her again. Amira sent a blast of something at her, singeing her arm. Lana reacted to the pain by grabbing Amira's ring, remembering Amira's reaction to it when Byra had. Amira froze, as Lana yanked at it, but it was as if she was trying to pull off Amira's finger. She stopped, confused- as Amira grabbed held of the straps of the purse with the grimmerie.

Lana yelled, grabbed hold of the purse itself, and pulled it back- and the straps did not simply break, but actually leapt off of the actual purse and wrapped around Amira's hands, tying them behind her back.

"Impressive." Amira said. "You-"

Lana ran forward and grabbed Amira's shoulders, intending to drive her off the edge. It was something she never would have done normally, and if she succeeded, would likely have regretted. But she was so angry in that moment, that she didn't think about what she was really doing. As she did so, she allowed the purse to drop at her feet, and the grimmerie, to spill out, visible.

Amira pulled her hands apart and as she did, the fabric of the straps broke apart, not torn, like fabric, but broken like glass, and she pushed Lana's hands away, reaching for the grimmerie- as a wind suddenly came and pushed the book off the roof.

Lana had not meant to do that.

Amira ran towards the staircase, but Lana blocked her path.

"We don't need to fight." Amira said, as she tried to push Lana out of the way.

"You- just- tried- to- get- me- killed!" Lana grunted out- and was suddenly paralyzed.

"Much better."

Lana wondered how much of the fight had been Amira toying with her, because that seemed to be the only explanation for why she hadn't done this in the first place.

"Now, as I was trying to explain, I don't need you dead. I'm already going to be Queen anyway."

"Glinda?" Lana managed.

Amira acted as if Lana hadn't spoken. "W- I could use your magical ability-"

"Hell… no."

"Please let me finish. Between you and freedom are hundreds- no thousands- of angry frightened people out for your blood. You won't be alive to see the sunrise without my help. So do you want to live, or do you want to die?"

Lana felt whatever paralyzing magic that Amira had put on her begin to wear off, but she didn't move, telling herself that it was so she could catch Amira by surprise.

"It's only a matter of time before we have your prince in captivity too." Her eyes met Amira's, and she knew that Amira could see the fear behind hers. "I could let him escape if you'd like… The alternative would- not be pleasant."

A part of Lana wanted to lunge at her, but she couldn't move, not because of Amira's magic, she wished that it was, but she knew that it had almost worn off. She couldn't join Amira, and she couldn't abandon Elphias. So she just stood, not saying anything, refusing to do either. Amira's lips curled slowly upward in triumph.

"Dorothy." Lana whispered.

Amira looked confused. "What?"

"Your dress." She didn't know why it even mattered at this point. "It's blue and white. You're trying to subtly remind them all of Dorothy Gale. And I'm the Wicked Witch of the West. And you want me to work with you?"

Amira watched her for a moment. "Yes, or no."

Lana opened her mouth to say no, but couldn't form the word.

"I know that you aren't frozen anymore." Amira whispered.

"No." She choked out. "No. No, no, no. I will _never_ help you." She stopped, she could feel her throat choking up, and her vision had filled with tears. She wiped them away fiercely. _Not in front of Amira._

"Your mother refused to join the wizard." Lana didn't even wonder how Amira had known that. "And when she died she had accomplished _nothing_. Do you want to do the same?"

"SHUT UP!" She screeched, gasping.

"Very well then." Amira pressed the necklace into her palm. "Good luck."

Lana froze, looking down on it. "What?"

"My offer remains open." Amira stepped away from the staircase, turned her back on her, and stepped closer to the edge, gazing off the side. "Consider it a token of my good will."

Lana clenched her teeth. She wanted to push Amira off the edge, but Amira seemed far too vulnerable to such an attack for it not to be a trap.

 _I still can't figure you out. Oz, we're playing a more high-stakes level of the same game._

She put the necklace back on, tucking it under her dress, and checked her hand. Yes, it was indeed no longer bright green.

She looked back at Amira. She still hadn't moved from her position. Cautiously, she climbed back into the Emerald Palace.

 _It's only a matter of time before we have your prince in captivity too. I could let him escape if you'd like… The alternative would- not be pleasant._

Lana stepped into the crowd, trying to look like she belonged there. She was wearing an expensive, ripped, muddy ball gown but she wasn't the only one.

 _It's only a matter of time before we have your prince in captivity too. I could let him escape if you'd like… The alternative would- not be pleasant._

She needed to find the grimmerie before someone else did.

 _It's only a matter of time before we have your prince in captivity too. I could let him escape if you'd like… The alternative would- not be pleasant._

Lana froze.

 _Too._

Amira might have meant in addition to Lana herself, as she had been paralyzed at the time. But it had worn off quickly, and Amira had had nothing to make sure she stayed there. _Glinda or Byra. Either way, I have to rescue them. And Elphias._

Alright. Alright. She needed to think rationally. Normally something she was good at, but apparently not now.

Any prisoners would probably be kept in the dungeon. She didn't know exactly where it was, but she moved towards the nearest staircase and started walking down. If she went down far enough, she would probably get to it eventually.

She reached the ground level, but the staircase ended there. She began to search the floor, moving from hallway to hallway. The palace was beginning to empty out, and she saw servants giving her odd looks, as if wondering why she was still there. But no one seemed to recognise her.

She didn't know how long it was before she finally found the entrance to the dungeons- with at least a dozen guards in front of it. She let out a little hiss of frustration. She would have foreseen that if she hadn't been panicking.

Alright. Either she could try to fight her way in, she could try to sneak in- or she could go find her mother and get her help rescuing the prisoners.

She felt like a coward, but she was tired, in no position to fight so many guards, and she knew that her mother would help. So she turned her back on the dungeon and it's prisoners, and walked out into the emerald city.

The sun was rising now. Lana remember what Amira had said about how she wouldn't live to see the sunrise without her help, and clenched her teeth. She _had_ had Amira's help, although she didn't know why, because she had given her the necklace.

She tore off some gold buttons on her dress and sold them at a jewelry shop, then went to the train station and used the money to try to get a ticket to Getrudpo Station, the station in the town that was farthest to the West out of all of Oz.

Once again, she wasn't the only one. Apparently she was terrifying enough that everyone who came to the city for the celebrations was trying to get out as fast as possible. This was both a blessing and a curse, it meant that she blended in, but it also meant that train tickets were selling out quickly.

It was noon when she finally got on a train. She tried to get some sleep, but her mind was racing, and the elderly munchkin woman sitting across from her was trying to convince her that Lana was not the daughter of the Wicked Witch of the West, but the reincarnation of her, who had been brought back by Glinda's evil magic.

About half an hour into the journey, she realized with a jolt that she had forgotten about the grimmerie. A part of her wanted to get off and take the next trip back to the city to get it, but in the end, she chose to stay on the train.

§

Once again, she had gotten used to the mild climate of the Emerald City. Now, she trekked through the Uncrossable desert. She had run out of water, her throat was dry, and she hadn't slept in 2 days.

She forced herself forward, promising herself that she only need take one more step, and then she would allow herself to rest. One more step. It was a lie of course.

And then, everything went black.


	17. Part 2 Chapter 2

I do not own Wicked.

When Elphias woke up, he was lying on a stone floor. He experienced the moment of disorientation before remembering how he got there. The mob. The book. Lana.

He tried to sit up, wincing. His entire body ached, and his head was throbbing. He was inside of a cell, about the size of a large closet, with a floor, ceiling, and back wall made out of stone. There was straw scattered around the bottom, but not enough to really cover any of it. In front of him and on either side of him there were bars, though he noticed that they didn't reach to the ceiling, stopping about a foot before. Too high to reach. Elphias wished he could fly, but maybe he could try to climb.

"Elphias!"

He turned. In the cell to his right was his mother, still wearing the clothes from the party, bleeding from a large cut on her face. That was when he felt a sudden jolt of fear in his stomach, as the situation sunk in.

"Mother! What happened to you?"

She told him what had happened after he had gone after Lana, how she had attempted to stop the mob from going after them, first with words, and then by attacking Amira. How Amira and some of the mob had come after her, and Amira ordered her to be taken captive in the dungeon. In return, Elphias told her what had happened with him, how he had given Lana the grimmerie, but she had been unable to use it. How the mob had broken down the door and Lana had managed to escape on a rope made out of bed sheets, (he hoped) but he had been unable to follow because he had been knocked unconscious. And how Elphaba Thropp and Fiyero Tiggular were alive, the latter a scarecrow, and living in the uncrossable desert. Lana's parents.

For a moment, she just sat in silence. Then, she whispered, "Elphie's alive?"

He was at a loss for words. "Yeah. Yeah, that's what Lana said."

There was another long moment of silence. "Did she say why she didn't tell me?"

Elphias didn't know whether she was talking about Lana or her mother. "No." He fidgeted with the straw on the ground uncomfortably.

"After all these years…"

His mother seemed to be talking more to herself than to him now. He hated it. He hated that he had no idea how his mother was feeling, and he hated how she seemed so- vulnerable. Fragile. And in that moment, he also hated Elphaba Thropp, whom he had never known but always looked up to, Fiyero Tiggular, and even Lana.

§

Elphias wasn't sure how much time had passed. They had been brought food 4 times, he thought, but he wasn't sure. The man who was standing right now in his mother's cell looked odd, out of place in the dungeon due to his clean, crisp, purple glikkan style clothing. But Elphias recognised him from the tour of oz the summer before, his deformed face, his undisguised hate for his mother. Amira's father, Count Esmius Hymdjer.

"Glinda _the good_. Do you know where you are?"

"A dungeon?" She answered.

He roared, an almost inhuman expression on his face, and struck her across the face. "YOU- ARE IN THE CELL- OF JEEMA MORRIBLE!" Elphias looked desperately over at the two young guards who had escorted the Count over, who now stood just outside his mother's cell. Although he knew that they, like everyone else, had turned against them, he had grown up learning that those who wore that uniform would protect him and his family, and the old instinct lingered. But they're expressions were ice cold. "SHE DIED HERE! YOU KILLED HER!" As he yelled, he continued to hit her. Elphias cried out.

"I- didn't-" his mother gasped.

He took her arm and twisted it, pulling it toward him. Elphias heard a loud crack. "YOU DESTROYED HER!"

"Stop!" Elphias begged. He had never felt so helpless his entire life.

The Count turned away from his mother. Turned to face him.

"Elphias Chuffrey." He smiled. "Amira told me about you. I've always wondered how Glinda the Good could have a son like you."

Elphias felt tears spring to his eyes, but he blinked them away.

"Do you want me to tell you in detail, or would a summary suffice?" His mother actually managed to smirk.

He spun around. "DO YOU THINK THAT THIS IS A JOKE!"

He gestured one of the guards into the cell. "BURN HER!" The guard reached out and grabbed her wrist. She fell back, the only thing keeping her from falling to the ground was the guard, who held it for a few moments longer before the Count gestured for him to let go, allowing her to fall to the ground.

"Mother!" Elphias yelled, panicking.

She managed to sit up, panting. "I'm fine." She murmured.

There was something eager in the Count's eyes. "Show him."

Her face blanched. "He has nothing to do with this-"

The other guard grabbed hold of him, and he felt as if his entire body, every cell, every atom, had lit on fire. There were no thoughts in his mind, no awareness, no strength. Only pain. He didn't know how long it lasted.

And then it was over.

He looked at The Count, and saw that he was not watching him, but his mother. "I have complete control." He breathed. "Over both of you. Over your country itself."

"Please." She whispered.

Elphias squeezed his eyes shut.

"Again."

§

At some point, they left.

Elphias didn't know when. It had seemed to go on forever, but now it was over- over for now. He couldn't speak, he couldn't move, for a long time.

They needed to escape. Before the Count returned.

He didn't know when his scattered thoughts managed to come together, allowing that thought to form. He didn't know how long it was before he actually tried to plan how he might do so, drawing inspiration from books he had read.

The most common strategy he could remember was hiding and waiting for someone to come in, see that the prisoner was gone, and run out in a panic, leaving the cell door open. But there was nowhere in the cell to hide, and he didn't know when someone would come, and he would still need to get out of the dungeon after that.

The only obvious opening in the cell was the space between the bars and the ceiling. He tried to climb, and failed miserably, although he gave up quickly.

Magic.

He had never had any skill in it, but maybe he could do it now. Or he could ask his mother for help. For several moments, he tried to think of a spell that would be useful in this situation. But despite his years of training in magic, he couldn't think of a single spell in this moment.

He could get a message out to Lana, if she were still alive. He was angry with her, he knew it was irrational and she didn't deserve it but he couldn't help it at the moment. Still, he wanted to believe that she and Byra had escaped.

At some point, he drifted into an odd sort of half-sleep. He dreamed, but his dreams were hazy and unclear.

In the morning, the Count returned with the same two guards.

§

Elphias could still feel the effects of the torture gripping his body. Most of it had not been physical, but his right eye had been stabbed, and was now blind. The room wouldn't stop spinning. Everything was so vague and unfocused, he wondered if he was dreaming.

"Mother?" Elphias whispered, alarmed but lacking in strength. He crawled over to the side of the cell. His mother had been knocked unconscious.

"Your highness?"

Elphias looked up. Standing just outside of the cell was a young woman, a servant, he could tell by her uniform. Short, with red-gold hair that had been put in a braid. There was something about her that was almost- intimidating, in a way. Something about her reminded him of legends of Ozma, the lost princess of Oz, or her ancestor, the fairy queen Lurline. Just in this sense of- of- a weird sort of power, in a way.

"Who are you?" He asked. It's the first time he's spoken in- well- he doesn't know how long exactly.

She didn't answer, she walked over to the guard. "Let me in."

"I can't do that.

"Why?" The tone of her voice was soft, timid, but Elphias thought he heard steel behind it. Maybe he was imagining things. "Are his crimes so heinous that he isn't allowed care?"

He considered it for a moment. "Tend to the other prisoners. I'll ask the Queen."

He turned and left, the girl hesitated, then walked out of sight.

§

Her name was Shaoma, she told him, pronounced Shay-oe-mah. She was a healer, and she tended to the prisoners in the dungeon. She couldn't heal the lingering effects of the guards' magic- for they did possess magic- nor could she save his eye, though she could soothe the pain there.

When she left, he found he somehow found he had a piece of paper in his hand, large, but crumpled up. He didn't remember her passing it to him. He found it difficult to read, more difficult than it should have been.

 _I owe my life to the Wicked Witch of the West._

§

 _Dear Lana_

Elphias sat hunched over the piece of paper that Shaoma had given him, his back to the guards so that they couldn't see what he was doing. He was writing with a straw from the floor, and he was trying to avoid thinking about how he had made the ink. He was writing less because he thought that there was any chance that the letter would actually get to Lana, and more because he felt that he had to do _something_ , or he would go mad.

 _I'm in the cell just to the left of the cell Madame Morrible was kept in. I'm not sure where that is exactly._

He hesitated, not sure what else to write. He was scared, he was having trouble thinking clearly, and he didn't even know if the letter would reach Lana.

 _Elphias_

He signed his name without putting anything before it.

Please review! Were the torture scenes too intense? Not intense enough?


	18. Part 2 Chapter 3

I own Wicked.

No I don't.

Trigger Warning: Implied rape

Standing this close to the palace meant there was a higher probability of getting caught. She didn't just have royal guards to worry about, there were also bands of marauding human boys to look out for. It wasn't ideal, but she had exhausted every other option she could think of. It was a last resort.

"Byra?"

She glanced up. It was the boy from earlier.

"What are you still doing here? Get out of the city. The country if you can.

"The country?" The boy's face was completely serious. "I tried, they've blocked all the entrances and exits except the railroad station, and they have to have officials at the stations."

"Right. Sorry. So you came here hoping I'd help you again?"

It felt like begging, and she hated it. "Can you?"

He hesitated. "Yes." He said finally.

There was a pause, as she waited for him to say something else.

"Will you help me?" she asked impatiently.

He hesitated. "I will, but I want you to agree to something first."

I clenched my teeth. "What do you want?"

"If you succeed in putting Glinda on the throne, or Elphaba, or whoever, I want to be able to request the immunity for- for five to nine people. Probably only five.

I stared at him for a moment. "I don't have the- I'm not a leader here I can't make deals like that."

"I know. I know. Just promise that you'll try."

"And whose immunity will you ask for?"

"I'll know when the time comes."

"That's a ridiculously open-ended promise. What will you do if I don't make it?"

They looked at each other for a moment. He opened his mouth to speak, then shut it, fidgeting with his belt buckle.

"I can't refuse to help you." He said finally.

"Why?" She asked. She needed his help, but she also had found this boy's help disconcerting when he had offered it, and she found it equally so now. "We don't know each other, why do you care what happens to me?"

He twitched. "Can't it just be that I'm a decent person?"

"That might explain why you are now, but it doesn't explain why you helped me before. Or why you won't give your name. Or-"

"Okay." He threw up his hands. "Okay. How about this, answers for your promise."

"Answers." I said. "And I'll consider it."

He hesitated, then nodded. "Deal. We should head somewhere less exposed first."

I nodded, and we headed away from the palace, into the maze of streets in the city. We stopped in a back alley way.

"Alright. First off, the lion's part in the death of the Wicked Witch has allowed him a- a pardon of sorts-"

"I know that, I don't live under a rock."

"And he and the tin man are smuggling Animals out of the city. And I'm helping. Against my better judgement."

"You sure?" I had heard that rumor, but I had also heard that they were turning Animals trying to escape in in exchange for the lion's 'pardon of sorts.'

"Positive. The rumors are because the-" He winced. "Because the Queen suspects what's happening but can't do anything because they're so beloved-"

"So was Glinda."

"That's the thing. The Queen's getting support from the people who see Glinda as having dethroned the Wizard before. Mostly, the people who preferred Glinda are staying silent, and not everyone's in favor of the enslavement of the Animals, so she doesn't want to further antagonize people."

"So she started a rumor so that Animals would be afraid to go to them? Wouldn't make more sense to order people to watch the Tin Man and the Lion?"

"That would make more sense. Do you know why she's not doing that?"

She hesitated. "How do I know that she's not doing that?"

"Take my word for it."

She looked at him suspiciously. "You're telling me that the Queen knows that the escape route you're recommending I use is being used, but she's not really doing anything about it?"

"She doesn't need every last Animal to be enslaved." He said impatiently. "She just needs to make it clear that she's making a good faith effort to enslave the animals to make sure she has the firm support of the people who supported the Wizard. Tracking the Lion and the Tin Man would be a waste of resources."

She considered that for a moment. "You're saying-" she tried to put what was going through her head into words. "Never mind."

"What?"

"Nothing."

He paused, then said, "If you were wondering, she's hoping that you'll be one of the animals that escape."

Her head jerked up.

"I recognise you now. You're the servant who always comes to our room whenever one of us rings the bell."

He nodded. "People don't usually remember me." His voice wasn't bitter, there was almost something- proud about it.

"You work for the Queen, is that it?" She felt anger surge through her. "You do- you do things for her that she can't do publicly. Like helping me. If you cash in the immunity favor, you'll use it on _her_."

"That was- a surprisingly close guess."

She clenched her teeth. "I'm not an _idiot_."

"She doesn't know I'm doing this. She didn't tell me to. I'm doing this because- because I care about her, and I know that she'll never forgive herself if- if something happens to you. Even if _she_ doesn't."

"She should already never forgive herself for everything else that she's done."

He exhaled loudly. "I know. That's why I'm helping the Tin Man and the Lion."

"But you want me to get some sort of- what? Pardon for her? If we get Glinda back in power? After she's enslaved the Animals?"

"If you succeed in putting Glinda or Elphaba in power. Which I doubt you will."

She frowned. "Who's Elphaba?"

"You know her as the Wicked Witch of the West."

" _The Wicked Witch of the West?_ Why would I put a dead Wicked Witch in power?"

"Well she's not really wicked. And I _thought_ she was dead, but Lana's existence would suggest otherwise."

"I'm sorry- what?"

He sighed. "My mother used to work for Count Hymdjer. Amira's father."

She noticed that he had stopped referring to Amira as the Queen.

"She overheard this in bits and pieces, and it comes from an unreliable source, so it might not be accurate. But she says that Glinda and Elphaba went to school together- at Shiz University-"

"Everyone knows that."

"Yes well, the headmistress there was an ambitious witch named Jeema Morrible, who sometimes taught a magic seminar. She, alongside other major magic instructors, had recieved a letter from the Wizard asking to be on the lookout for extremely powerful magical students. With me so far?"

"Why did the Wizard want extremely powerful magical students?"

"Oh he was a fraud. He wanted someone with power to make it look like he had power."

"What? Are you sure?"

"Well, I'm getting this from what my mother overheard Morrible telling Count Hymdjer years ago, so no, I'm not sure, but it makes sense with what I _do_ know. You know that Dorothy came from another world?"

She nodded.

"Well the Wizard came from that same world. The thing is, this world doesn't have any magic or anything. It does have more advanced technology, so the Wizard was able to replicate some of this technology to look like a wizard. That's going to be important later."

"O-kay."

"So- where was I again?"

"The Wicked Witch- Elphaba- went to school with Glinda and Morrible was looking for people with magical talent.

"Right. So Elphaba turned out to have this amazing magical talent, so Morrible wrote to the Wizard saying that she had found this amazing magical student. Meanwhile, Elphaba and Glinda ended up becoming friends, and Elphaba got Morrible to train Glinda as well, since Morrible figured that while she wasn't as powerful as Elphaba, she could use her charisma."

"Did Elphaba get Morrible to train Glinda or did Morrible decide to train Glinda because she thought she could use her?"

"I'm not sure, but it's not important. What is important is that the Wizard wrote back saying that he wanted to meet Elphaba, so Elphaba and Glinda wound up going to the Emerald City together to see him. Morrible had been teaching Elphaba for some time at this point, so she was thinking that Elphaba would be loyal to her over the Wizard.

"But when Elphaba found out that the Wizard was a fraud and had been taking away the Animals' ability to speak- that wasn't well known at the time- she decided she didn't want anything to do with him. Morrible and the Wizard were afraid that she would expose the Wizard as a fraud, so they said she was wicked to discredit her."

"That does make sense." Byra admitted. "What about Glinda?"

"She agreed to keep quiet in exchange for the position of Good Witch of the North."

"Oh."

"So Morrible now has the position of Press Secretary, but she wants more than that, she wants to be able to rule Oz. So she has this idea, instead of finding people with amazing magical talent, she thinks that she'll make some."

"How do you make people with magical talent?"

"I'll get to that. Anyway, she didn't want the wizard to know about this, so she needed to find someone else with the resources to help her. She obviously couldn't just go around knocking on people's doors, but she did some digging and found out that the powerful Count Janus Hymdjer had some sort of skeleton in his closet- I was never told what but it's not really important- and so she went to use it to blackmail him into helping her.

"Unfortunately for her, apparently the threat of exposure of whatever it was was not enough to get him to betray the Wizard, so he was going to turn her in. If he had, she probably would have figured out some way to get off the hook, but he didn't get the chance to because he was killed by his own brother- Amira's father. He was interested in the plan, as long as he got to have power as well. He ended up marrying his brother's widow, Coiewa."

"He killed his own brother?"

"According to him, Janus had mistreated him for years because his face was disfigured."

He stopped talking for a couple of minutes.

"Do you know what a child of both worlds is?"

I shook my head. "Glinda said that she thought that Lana was one once."

"A child of both worlds has one parent from Oz, and one parent from the same world as Dorothy and the Wizard. But they have a lot of magical talent."

"So- you said that she wanted to make- oh." She grimaced. "How did they get people from this- other world?"

"Morrible's big magical talent was controlling the weather. You know how Dorothy got here?"

"Of course I-"

"That was Morrible. But I'm not at that part yet. It took a lot of failed attempts and a lot of work, but Morrible managed to bring a couple of people from the other world, all male, to the uncrossable desert, where no one would see them. From there, they would bring them to Count Hymdjer's mansion where they would be kept as prisoners."

Byra was feeling slightly sick. "And- the mothers?"

"They would be servants. But the thing is, Morrible and Hymdjer didn't just want powerful witches and wizards, they wanted powerful witches and wizards they could control. So Morrible would try to put a spell on the mothers so that within 20 minutes of their children's birth, the child would freeze to death unless if they were given an enchanted ring that would stop that from happening. But the ring was also connected to their thoughts, their emotions. If they so much as thought about betraying Hymdjer of Morrible, it would burn them, eventually kill them. That way, they couldn't plan away around it.

Byra felt as if there was something cold and heavy in her stomach. She remembered the silver ring, and the panic in Amira's eyes when she was going to take it off. "And if it comes off, they die."

"Slowly and painfully."

Neither of them spoke for a moment.

"The first couple of times she tried it, she would end up killing both mother and child, for obvious reasons. Eventually, she succeeded, and two identical twin boys were born, named Marus and Ramus. After a couple more tries, another two twins were born, girls this time, named Shaoma and Moasha. In both cases, the mothers still died giving birth to them."

"That's-"

"I know."

After a couple of minutes, he said "At some point, Morrible and Hymdjer had some sort of affair. I'm not sure how Morrible felt about Hymdjer, but Hymdjer became completely obsessed with her. Meanwhile, Glinda became engaged to the captain of the guards, her boyfriend from Shiz, and the Prince of the Vinkus, Fiyero. You've probably met her sister, Mocara, the current Queen of the Vinkus."

Byra nodded. "And I've heard of Fiyero. He ended up joining the Wicked Witch, right?"

"And there was some sort of romance between them. Glinda was angry about this, so she suggested a way to catch Elphaba, by using her sister Nessarose, you know her as the Wicked Witch of the East, as bait. So Morrible-"

"Dropped a house on her. Why did it need to carry Dorothy though?"

"That was an accident. Morrible wanted something big and heavy to drop on Nessarose, and she didn't want to cause unrest by taking something like a house that belonged to someone in Oz. She also was hoping it would come off looking like divine intervention. She didn't know it was occupied.

"So Elphaba had a vision that Nessarose was in danger, so she came to Munchkinland, but she was too late. She ended up falling into the trap, but Fiyero rescued her, and in the process was captured himself and tortured to death.

And you know what happened after that, Dorothy and her friends ended up killing Elphaba.

"How did Dorothy get back home? Why did the Wizard leave?"

"No idea. Morrible never visited Hymdjer again. Because when Glinda came to power, she had Morrible arrested, put in jail for life."

"On what charges?" The boy gave Byra an odd look. "What, it's not like she could have been put there for killing the Wicked Witch of the East. Or lying about Elphaba. Or-"

"Okay I get it. I'm not sure what charges she was arrested on, but she ended up committing suicide. So now Count Hymdjer doesn't just want power, he wants revenge on everyone he holds responsible. Not just Glinda, but also Elphaba and the Wizard. Lana by proxy.

"You said that Morrible committed suicide, not that she had been executed. Which she could have been, for committing murder."

"Yes, but that still says something about the prison conditions. And I doubt that Glinda felt bad about it exactly."

"Why should she? We celebrate Elphaba's death every year _because_ of Morrible."

"We don't know much about Morrible. We don't know why she was the way she is."

Byra shrugged. "What happened to your mother?"

The boy pursed his lips, and Byra had the distinct feeling that he was trying to decide how much to tell her.

Finally he said, "Shortly after Morrible died, he discovered that his wife, Coiewa, had betrayed him. He decided that as punishment, she would be the next mother of his- creations. He had no magical ability of his own, though, so he had the four that he already had cast the spells to make the child dependant on the ring. The girls were three and the boys were five, so they weren't really able to. Their rings perceived this as betrayal, and started to burn them. My mother tried to intervene, so Hymdjer tried to kill her. She ended up escaping and becoming a servant here.

She says that she thought for sure that the four children, and Hymdjer's wife, would all end up dying, without Coiewa, his wife, having any children. But apparently not, because 7 months later, she heard news that Hymdjer's wife had two twin daughters, Amira and Arima, and that their mother had died in childbirth."

 _Arima_. The name sounded familiar.

"And you knew all of this when you met Amira."

"I was curious." He said simply. "That's why I first approached her. I never told her any of this, if I did, she would have to kill my mother and I."

"And the other people you want to get pardoned- are the Count's other- creations."

He nodded. "Will you?"

"I'd have to think about that. There's one answer you still haven't given me.

"What?"

"Your name."

"Oh! Tyron."

"Is that your real name?"

"It's the name my mother gave me. How could it be more real than that?"

Byra shrugged.

§

He snuck her into an inn, that was run by someone else who was helping the Lion and the Tin Man. She was sitting there now, on an old bed that had sand on it, thinking about what she had heard and waiting for the Lion and the Tin Man to come.


	19. Part 2 Chapter 4

Sorry I haven't updated in so long, Wicked is not mine.

Amira did her best to stop herself from flinching as she entered the boundaries of the epokunuwu stones. Feeling her magic, one of her greatest strengths, just drain out of her was like losing a sense, made worse by the fact that it wasn't one she could fully define or understand. Father had insisted on a secret throne room, much like the one he had back at his manor in the Glikkus, but this one did not allow her her power.

 _Why?_ She wondered silently. _He must know he can trust me._

She knelt, silently. He wouldn't make her kneel in silence for long, she knew-

"Rise." His voice is curt, and there's anger in it, barely controlled anger. "You said you gave Elphaba's daughter the necklace. Explain yourself."

She didn't meet his eyes, not out of guilt or discomfort, but because she knew he would see it as a challenge. "I was hoping to manipulate her. If we could turn her to our side-"

"NO!" She remained completely still as he rocketed out of his seat. "SHE MUST SUFFER FOR HER MOTHER'S CRIMES!"

Amira waited to make sure he had finished speaking, then spoke. "What better way to take revenge against Elphaba than to turn her own daughter against her?"

That actually silenced him for a moment. "Then you think she's alive?"

A dangerous part of her wanted to backtrack, but she bit it back. "It would explain Lana's age, and how the Elphaba was able to survive while allergic to water-"

"And do you really think that you can convert her?"

"Even if I can't, she will- hesitate to fight me in the future."

"You waste too much time on mind games." He said, his tone mocking now.

She didn't answer this.

"The others are devising a plan as we speak to trap Lana and whomever might be with her."

"Do you want me to assist them?" She asked, feeling torn between a desire to please her father, to protect Lana, and to finally, _finally_ meet others like her.

"No." He said. He didn't elaborate on the matter further.

She nodded, accepting this, and waited for him to speak.

"We're waiting a week for your coronation, I expect you to have a speech planned out by then. I expect you to address the Animals as well as build up Lana as a threat similar to the Wicked Witch of the West. I will be speaking there as well."

She nodded again.

"You are dismissed."

§

Amira had put much thought into where her new room would be. Obviously, it would be beneath her to stay in the room she had been in when she was merely Glinda's apprentice, and she was reluctant to stay in Glinda's room, as it was the site of Lana's escape- besides, she wanted to send the message that she was different from Glinda. The Wizard's quarters would have been ideal if he had any, or at least, any public ones. Since he was seen as something akin to a god, people seemed to have assumed that he simply didn't sleep, and he had slept in a hidden room behind the throne room, to prevent people from realizing his identity- the same room, in fact, where Father had taken up residence. The Emerald Palace had been built during the Wizard's reign- which meant that there hadn't been any Ozmas who had stayed there. Which meant that, in the end, she ended up staying in Glinda's old quarters anyway. She stopped there now for a brief break- there was still a lot of work to be done.

She found her eyes drawn to her closet, and a part of her wanted to open it, to take out what had been hidden inside- but why bother? She didn't have the time to do anything with it- at least not now.

It was the first thing that was objectively and undeniably a secret from Father- not something vague, like a feeling, but a concrete, hard cold fact.

The grimmerie was in her possession.

She couldn't tell Father, because he wouldn't want her to- or at least, that was the best explanation she wanted to come up with. He was reckless, he would hurt himself with it. Hurt his plans.

 _Reckless._ The thought made her uncomfortable. No, not reckless exactly- there was another word, a word with a more positive connotation. _Decisive._ She decided. He didn't spend as much time overthinking decisions as she did.

Deciding it was better to think of something else, her mind went to her coronation. It was odd that Father, who had been refusing to commit to a date for the coronation for weeks now, would so suddenly choose a date the week before. She now needed to arrange guest lists, oversee preparations, in addition to the administrative work she already had- speaking of which she really needed to get to a meeting with her advisors now. She got up and began to move into the hall, walking quickly, but not running- and bumped into someone.

She opened her mouth to them in their place, then froze when she saw who it was. Tyron barely stopped long enough for her to see his face, then hurried down the hall.

She clenched her teeth, Tyron had been avoiding her since Ortibonitatem day. Was he angry with her? Frightened of her? Oz, she did not want to deal with this right now…

If he was afraid of her, he wasn't the only one, it was difficult not to notice how people were suddenly becoming silent as she passed...

§

He was waiting near her room when she headed there to crash for the night, fiddling with his belt the way he did when he was nervous. He began speaking, quickly, as soon as she was within earshot.

"Is this what you want Amira?"

"It doesn't matter what I want."

He looks as if there are several things he wants to say, but is afraid to. "What you're doing- it's wicked. You know it is."

He hesitated, then turned and walked back down the hall. She watched him go.

 _There's no such thing as goodness and wickedness. Not really._

She's been so tired lately. She was tired now, but she still couldn't sleep. Thoughts and images were flying through her mind, in a disorganized mess.

But at some point she must have fallen asleep, because the thoughts and images turned to dreams. She was standing on the roof of the palace, and Lana was holding onto her hand, as Amira was struggling to keep them both from falling to their deaths. Lana moved her hand up to try to pry off the ring, and despite knowing intellectually that the ring wouldn't, couldn't come off, she still found herself terrified.

"Not a good idea!" She called, over the wind- why was there so much wind? There hadn't been before. "If you get it off we'll both fall!"

Lana was eerily calm. "It would have been worth it."

And she was in the middle of the cyclone carrying someone to Oz, though she didn't know who. Was it the legendary Dorothy Gale? Was it her biological father- whomever that was? And she could hear someone singing, something about flying, about defying gravity…

And she was killing, killing Father, shooting an old man, poisoning a host's wine, killing her own mirror image, which turned into Lana… so much violence, so much of it completely unrecognisable.

And she was sitting in the dungeon, sitting next to Elphias, but he couldn't see her- he was crying-

She woke up.

It was 1:30 in the morning. Deciding she wouldn't be able to fall back asleep, she slid out of bed, lit a candle, and tried to write her coronation speech. As she did, she wondered vaguely if part of the dream had involved a hint at the future- but she was struggling to remember exactly what had happened, and what she did remember made sense, in a weird way- some of it had been memories, and some of it had been dreams she had had before. Some of it had been events she knew had happened, even if she hadn't seen it herself. And it was easy to see how her subconscious had come up with the rest of it.

A/N: Sorry that that was shorter than usual, I know not much happened but some of the stuff set up here is going to be important later. Elphaba will be in the next chapter.

Please Review!


	20. Part 2 Chapter 5

Yeah, yeah, I don't own Wicked.

Elphias had lost track of how long he had been in the dungeon- It felt like centuries since Ortibonitatem Day, his memories of it were hazy, almost like a dream.

Fortunately, Count Hymdjer seemed to have forgotten that he was there- he never seemed to order his two favorite guards to torture him anymore. Unfortunately, that meant that his mother was bearing the brunt of his attacks. At the moment, instead of doing his usual trick of having the two men use their magic to torture her, he had ordered them to maim her, slaming her entire body into the wall repeatedly.

She had given up on trying to save face, and was now screaming and pleading for them to stop. And that was the worst part, that his mother, someone whom he was used to being in control, was completely powerless. Helpless.

Elphias was 19 years old, but used to feeling younger. Lana, who was two years younger than him, often seemed to act older. But now he felt like a little boy, huddled and scared.

Count Hymdjer and his soldiers finally left. He didn't say anything to his mother, what was there to say? He knew she wasn't okay. Talking would only make things worse, he knew this from experiance.

He had never been afraid of the dark- he had never understood the concept of being afraid of it, because he had, when he was younger, liked it when he was in his room at night, and all the lights were out. He couldn't quite explain it, and it had worn off when he got older, but until now, he had never found it flat out terrifying. Now, his mind was playing tricks on him- making him see things that weren't there.

"Excuse me?"

It was Shaoma. Most importantly, she was carrying a plate of food- real food, not the stuff that the soldiers gave him. His mouth watered.

"What's that?" Asked the guard?"

"Food. For the prisoners."

"You think this is some sort of hotel or something girl?" He stepped towards her threatenly. She flinched. "They're traitors, you know that?"

"But-"

The guard grabbed the tray- and started to stuff the food in his mouth.

"No!" Elphias cried, desperate. The other guard laughed, and started to eat some as well- then threw the now empty tray at him. It bounced off the wall on the other side.

"GO!" He screamed at the girl laughing. "GO!"

She shut an apologetic look at Elphias and ran off.

§

A couple of hours later, she was back, and the guards were asleep.

"Elphias?" She called. She grabbed a key from one of the guards pockets and unlocked his cell. "Can you walk?"

Elphias managed to climb to his feet, and staggered over, leaning on the wall to stay upright. "How? How did you?"

"There was a sleeping potion in the food." She walked over and helped him out of the cell. Outside, he saw that there were no cells in the room except for his and his mother's. The space where the guards kept watch was not that much larger than the combined size of the cells, but on either end, there was a door.

She walked over to his mother's door, and unlocked that as well. His mother tried to push herself up, but immediately crumpled. Shaoma ran over.

"Your legs appear to be broken..."

Elphias felt a pang of fear. "Can't you heal her?"

"I could, but it would take time. Time we don't have."

Elphias managed to make his way into the cell.

"Could you come back for me later?" His mother asked through gritted teeth.

"I don't think-" She stopped for a moment. "I'll do that."

Elphias hesitated, then worked his way over to his mother, and hugged her, clinging to her as tightly as he could. "I'll see you again soon.

His mother didn't say anything for a long moment. "I love you." She said finally.

"We need to go." Shaoma said gently. Elphias-"

He made his way over to her. Shaoma hesitated a moment, glancing from him to his mother. "Pay attention to the route we take out." She said. "Just in case."

She helped him to the door to his right, which she had to unlock. On the other side, there was a long hallway, with many cells that were similar to his, some occupied by various people- but none of them guarded.

"Where-?"

"There are guards at the entrance to the dungeon and the doors are all locked." She said. "You only get guards because you're considered extra dangerous."

Elphias wondered distantly how anyone could possibly think he was dangerous, but did his best to take note of his surroundings, something that he didn't often do normally, and at the moment he was exhausted and starving and hurting, and was having trouble concentrating. But he had to. His mother's life could depend on it.

She lead him to a cell that was empty, opened the door, and helped him in. She walked over to the back of the cell, pressed her hand against the wall, and muttered an incantation. A part of the wall slid aside, almost like a door, revealing an archway behind it.

"Been there since The Wizard." She muttered, helping him through. Elphias whimpered. It was pitch black inside, the stairs spiraling up, and she closed the door behind them. She cast another spell, and the wall closed behind them.

The darkness was complete- Elphias could not see his hand in front of him. He had checked. The staircase wasn't wide enough for both of them, so Shaoma had him go ahead, using the wall to guide him, lifting his feet, one in front and over the other… until suddenly there was nothing below his next foot. He had reached the last stair.

Normally, it simply would have been an ackward step- but now, his leg buckled, and he fell backwards-

And Shaoma caught him. Elphias found himself letting out a shuddering sob. He was useless.

"Almost there." Shaoma whispered. "Almost safe."

He couldn't see anything. He touched his hand to the wall and managed to move to his right. He heard Shaoma say another incantation, and the wall slid aside again.

The light that poured in hurt his eye, after so long in the dark. He blinked,unable to make out his surroundings, before squeezing it shut. Nonetheless, he stepped forward, holding his hands in front of him in case there was a wall. Behind him, he heard another incantation, presumably Shaoma closing the wall.

"Elphias?"

He forced his eye open with his hands, trying to adjust it to the glare. After a couple of moments, he was able to see that they were in a street, somewhere in the emerald city.

Shaoma waited for him to adjust, then walked with him until they reached a statue of Dorothy, covered with flowers. "This is as far as I can take you. Try to get help- don't tell anyone your real name. She shoved an envelope in his hand. "Here. I wrote the incantation to open the door in it." Before he could react, she leaned forward and kissed him, lightly, then started to walk away-

"You!"

It was one of the guards from the dungeon, now holding a gun. One of the guards with powers, who had used them to torture him.

He had never been filled with as much terror as he had now. There was nothing- nothing, that could possibly be worse than the very real possibility that he would taste freedom, only to be returned to his cell. To the dark. To the pain. For a moment, he froze. He was aware that he was moaning.

Then, Shaoma took off. Not away from the guard, but towards him.

The guard fired his gun. He missed, but the loud noise filled the air, snapping Elphias out of his shock, and causing people nearby to scream. He turned and ran, blindly, through the emerald city. Behind him, he heard another gunshot- and a scream.

Shaoma.

He stopped. _Turn back. You have to turn back. You have to help her._

"Turn around. Raise your hands in the air!"

He took off.

§

Elphias didn't remember what happened next very well. He wasn't sure quite when he met with Boq, who had helped him to a hotel that was part of some sort of escape route that he was organizing, and took him to some sort of makeshift infirmiry. He remembered telling the nurse, a Mountain Goat, that he had to keep the envelope that the girl who had helped him had given him. At some point, he was pretty sure that he passed out.

Now, he had just regained consciousness, and was starting to think more clearly. He still had the envelope, thankfully, at his bedside table. He tried to sit up, but the nurse put a hoof on his shoulder, and started asking him a series of questions.

After a few minutes of this, she let him rest. He reached for the envelope, but she shook her head. "No reading." She said firmly. He considered telling her that he hadn't been planning to read the contents, he had just wanted to make sure he didn't lose it, but decided it wasn't worth the effort.

Boq came in about 20 minutes later. "How is he?" He asked.

He and the nurse talked for a couple of minutes, before she moved on to one of her other patients. She had a lot, he noticed, and all, except for him, Animals.

"Boq."

"You gave us quite a scare." He sat by his bedside. "How do you feel?"

Elphias didn't know how to answer that. "Not good." He said finally. "How long has it been since-"

"A month."

"A month?" Elphias couldn't decide whether that seemed to long or too short.

Boq nodded, and told him what had passed, how Amira had been crowned Queen, and ordered that the Animals be forced into labor camps, but had pardoned the Lion and his family because of the part the Lion had played in the death of the Wicked Witch of the West. Boq and the Lion had then used their status to avoid the security checks at the gates and Train Stations, and had started an organization to smuggle Animals and other fugitives to safety.

Fugitives like him.

There was no sign of Lana, although there were people all over the country searching for her. Boq was pretty sure that she had gotten out of the Emerald City, but he had no idea how. Same story with his father, although it wouldn't have been that hard for him to leave the city in the week since Ortibonitatem day, before security had really tightened. Most worrying was that Byra had not used Boq's system, and unlike Lana or his father, her capture- or death- would not be publicized.

"How did you get out?" Boq asked him.

Elphias frowned. "Someone helped me… A girl… she left me that envelope with the spell to get back…"

The more he tried to remember anything that happened in the dungeon, the more it seemed to fade away. It was just out of his memory's reach now, he had a feeling almost as if stretching, searching for something that should be there… it wasn't the first time that had happened, but it was the first time it had happened with something important- the identidy of the young woman who had died saving him. _That_ he could remember, the red-headed girl, staring sightlessly, lying in a pool of blood…

Boq wordlessly picked up the envelope and opened it, taking out a piece of paper and reading it silently.

For a moment, neither of them spoke. "Is there something wrong?" Elphias asked.

Boq looked at him for a moment. Then he slid the letter back into the envelope. "Don't read it until the nurse says you can."

§

Five days passed. Elphias was pronounced healthy enough to leave the infirmary, but was told a whole list of things that he wasn't allowed to do, including leaving the hotel. He was now half blind, having lost an eye in the dungeon, and restless, desperate to do something, anything, to help those he loved, but unable to do so. It didn't help that he wasn't allowed to do anything that could possibly occupy his mind.

"Elphias?"

He looked up.

"Byra!" He got up and ran over to where she was standing with Boq, and hugged her. "I was worried about you!"

"Not as much as I was." She looked him up and down. "What happened to you?"

He noticed Boq leave the room, shutting the door behind him. "Amira's father, Count Hymdjer- he's furious my mother for some reason…"

Madame Morrible- you know Madame Morrible? She was his girlfriend. Sort of. It's a long story- but never mind that, are you okay?"

Elphias was getting tired of people asking him that. "I'm fine." He lied.

A part of him wanted to tell her everything, but he didn't want her to know how- vulnerable he had felt. How helpless.

When it became clear that he wouldn't volunteer information, Byra walked over and sat down next to him. She watched him for a moment, then began to sing. Her words were soothing, almost like a lullaby.

He began to cry, and realized that he wasn't ashamed to do so. There was something oddly freeing about it. He joined in the song, voice shaking. Through the song, they told each other of the hardships that they had faced, but promised each other that they would always be there.

Author's note: I'm sorry! I know I promised Elphaba would be in this chapter but that didn't actually happen. She's definitely going to be in the next chapter though.


	21. Part 2 Chapter 6

Lana had never thought she would see the day when showing _her_ face was more dangerous than her mom showing hers.

Even with the necklace, her face was plastered in Wanted Posters everywhere, as was Elphias's father, Shartine. The only physical feature her mom had that anyone seemed to remember was her green skin, which she hid with the same charm that had been placed on Lana's necklace. It helped that everyone still thought that she was dead. Her dad was still a hero of Oz- which seemed almost too easy to Lana.

Glinda had sent Shartine to find the scarecrow in the chaos just after Amira had taken off the necklace. She had remembered that he had been the one who brought Lana to the Emerald Palace in the first place, and wondered if he had known more than he was letting on. But Glinda couldn't have been the only one that had made the connection. Amira had let her escape. Were they walking into a trap?

If they were, they weren't walking very fast, they couldn't exactly skip down the yellow brick road to the Emerald City. They had worked out a system where Dad would have to scout out a path where they could remain mostly unseen, then hurry the rest of the group to the next hiding space.

Lana tried to remind herself that she was lucky. Lucky that the mob hadn't caught her. Lucky that she hadn't fallen to her death. Lucky that no one had recognised her. Lucky that Mom had found her not too soon after she had collapsed in the Uncrossable Desert.

But she didn't feel lucky. She felt like a curse. She could have learned sorcery from her mom, but she had wanted to see Oz, to meet people other than her parents. And because of that, Elphias, Glinda and Byra were all in danger, and Amira was going back to enslaving the Animals, and all her mom's hard work had been undone.

"This is taking too long." Her Mom muttered through clenched teeth, voicing exactly what everyone else was thinking. "We should just fly there."

Dad had convinced the rest of them that they should try to keep her Mom's survival a secret, but he wasn't there at the moment, and Lana's resolve was fading. Elphias and Glinda were probably being tortured as they spoke, how could she argue with a course of action that would get them to the City faster?

As she got to her feet, her Dad walked in- Elphias and Byra behind him.

She started to run forward- only for Shartine to push her aside and run over to Elphias, enveloping him in a hug.

Suddenly feeling nervous, Lana decided it would be best to give the father and son a few minutes alone as they could be in there relatively small hiding place, and went to Byra. "How did you find them?" She asked her Dad.

"We were the ones who found _them_." Byra said. "Boq and the Lion were able to smuggle us out of the Emerald City- they say that they're happy to help us whenever we need them by the way-"

"Boq is happy to help _me_?" Asked Lana's mom.

Byra stopped, looking over at her. There was an awkward silence.

"Did Elphias tell you-" Lana started to ask.

"I know everything." Byra said. "I'm sorry, I'm being rude. I'm Byra."

"And I'm the Wicked Witch of the West. Nice to meet you." She held out her hand, and Byra shook it, looking nervous.

"We've been worried about you guys, last we heard Amira had enslaved the Animals, and Elphias and Glinda had been imprisoned-"

"Glinda still is." She looked over at Elphias, who was still with his father. "I think Elphias hit his head at some point- he doesn't remember what happened while he was in the dungeons very well. But whatever it was…" Byra let her voice trail off.

"What about you?" Lana asked.

"Nothing big." She fidgeted. "Listen, I started to go after you when you ran off, but Amira grabbed me, and by the time she let me go I had no idea where you were-"

"I understand." Lana said quickly.

Byra avoided her eyes. "I should have tried harder to find you."

"Well, you're not the only one." Lana said quietly.

"What?"

Lana glanced around the cave, and saw that her parents were together, and Elphias was with his father. She spoke quietly, not wanting any of them to hear.

"I caused this. I put everyone in danger- and then I ran away. I'm not a hero like Mom, I told myself I needed her help to rescue anyone. But I didn't even try."

Neither girl spoke for a long moment, until Elphias walked over to them. Lana looked over him, taking in how battered he looked, how he was missing an eye.

"Elphias." She said. She hugged him, and felt him stiffen as she did so. She stepped back. "Oh Elphias!"

Not for the first time, she felt completely useless. Why couldn't she say more? Why did she feel so uncomfortable around Elphias, of all people?

"I've missed you." He said, but he couldn't seem to look at her. Lana fought back tears, reminding herself that Byra and Elphias had probably had it worse, because of _her_ , and she had no right to feel sorry for herself.

Elphias glanced around the small cave, then began to speak, loudly. Lana was surprised and a little impressed, as she knew how shy he could be. "My mother's still being held by Amira's father, Count Hymdjer." Lana shot Byra a questioning look, but she shrugged. "I know a way to get into the dungeon, but I need your help." He looked over at Lana's mother, then, looking a bit intimidated, over at Lana. She tried to nod reassuringly.

Elphias explained how he was helped by one of the servants, but when the adults pressed him for details, he couldn't provide them, and began to lose confidence. Byra piped up in places, but couldn't add much as she wasn't actually there, and had only heard about it later.

When he was done, no one said anything for a long time.

"Someone's gotta say this." Lana's father said slowly. "This is probably a trap."

"It doesn't matter." Said Elphaba fiercly. "We still need to rescue Glinda. We just need to figure out a way around the trap first. Byra, you said that the Boq and the Lion might help us."

She nodded.

"Do they know about me, they sort of blame me for all of their problems especially Boq-"

"Elphias explained. They have a lot of other people on their side, they've got this whole network that smuggles Animals like me out of the city." She hesitated. "There was also a servant in the Emerald Palace who helped me, said his name was Tyron."

"Great." She said briskly. "Elphias, you said there was a secret passageway?"

He nodded.

"We're not using it." She said. "We're sneaking in through the Emerald Palace."

As Elphias opened his mouth to protest, she said, "We won't help Glinda by getting ourselves killed." Her expression softened. "Don't worry, I've snuck in the Palace before."

"Have you ever snuck in with so many people?" Asked Lana.

"No, and I won't do so this time." She said. "None of you are coming."

Lana started to protest, and then realized that everyone else was doing so as well. The cave was filled with a loud clamor, and no one was listening to what anyone else was saying until-

"Quiet!" Lana's mother said loudly, cutting through the noise. Everyone did so. "Now-"

"Let me go." Lana's father interrupted. "I'm not wanted or anything."

"Unless Amira remembers seeing you take Lana to the Palace in the first place."

"She wasn't there." Lana said. "She didn't come until a week after I did."

"She still might have found out from someone else."

"She hasn't sent anyone after me yet or anything." Said Lana's father.

"It might be part of the trap." Lana's mother fired back.

No one spoke for several moments.

"Fine." He said. "I'll just go scout out the rest of the the rhoute then."

"Are you sure you're fine with this?"

"Yes."

"Because last time you agreed to me doing something dangerous alone, you secretly followed me so that you could swing down onn a vine, shout a ridiculous one-liner, then got caught and was nearly tortured to death and was only saved because I turned you into a scarecrow."

"Really?" Asked Byra.

Lana nodded. "I'll tell you all about it later." She said. She paused, suddenly unable to find the right words to explain why they all needed to go. "Mom, just by being here, we're all already part of this. We chose to be part of this. We need to be able to see it through."

"It's too dangerous-"

"You do dangerous things all the time, why can't we? Byra's the same age you were when you defied the Wizard, Elphias and I aren't that much younger."

"You've never done anything like this before-"

"We all got out of the Emerald Palace."

"Security will have tightened since then. And we know there's a trap."

"Alright, fine. We've never done anything like this before. There's a first time for everything."

"This isn't some kind of field trip."

"I never said it was."

"The more people come along, the higher our chances of getting caught."

"The higher our chances of getting caught when we sneak in, yes, but what about when we get into the dungeon itself? There's going to be guards there. There might be more. They won't let you take Glinda without a fight-"

"I don't need your help. I've gone against higher numbers before."

"My mother's life is in jeopardy." Elphias said quietly. "We're not taking that risk."

Her mother closed her eyes for a moment, taking several deep breaths.

"Fiyero, go scout out the route." She said finally. "We'll discuss this further later."


	22. Part 2 Chapter 7

I do not own Wicked. Sorry it's been so long, got distracted, but I'm seeing this to the end.

The emerald City had, in the couple of days since Byra had left it, changed.

Byra could make a list of all the obvious things that had changed in her head, which she could see through a hole she was peering through in the crate that the Lion was using to smuggle her in. She could see that shops were boarded up and empty, or that people- all humans- walked more quickly and didn't speak to each other, but none of them seemed to get to the root source of Byra's feeling that something was _different_ , almost as if it were part of the air itself.

Nearby, Lana shifted where she was sitting, accidentally nudging her. Byra flinched, and glanced over. Her face was covered in shadows, but she thought she saw some sort of apology on it anyway. Neither of them dared speak. Byra tried to give a look that conveyed that she didn't mind, that she was just overly jumpy, but she wasn't sure how much of it carried over.

The Lion and The Tin Man- Boq- wheeled them into a hotel.

"You can come out now.

Byra's relief at the prospect of leaving the cramped space she shared with Lana outweighed her fear of exposure, and she climbed out eagerly. As the others climbed out as well, she caught sight of Boq, a strange expression on his face. She followed his gaze to- The Wicked Witch of the West? Lana's mother? Elphaba Thropp? Just Elphaba? Byra had no idea how to think of her.

She returned her gaze, a fierce expression on her face, and Byra realized she was being rude. _This is ridiculous._ She trusted Lana and believed Tyron. She certainly didn't need to be convinced that the Wizard was a liar. But, despite all reason, she couldn't quite shake the feeling of distrust she had regarding- her.

"I need a time when important people in the palace are publicly outside of it." Elphaba said, looking at Boq and the Lion. "That would require a lot of guards to be out. When's the next one?"

"Amira's coronation, but it's tomorrow." Said a voice from the doorway. Byra glanced over and saw that Tyron had just entered the room. "You shouldn't have come back."

Lana glanced over. "Who's he?"

"This is Tyron, he helped me escape." Byra said. "And this is-"

"I know who everyone here is." Tyron interrupted irritably. "Just because none of you think I'm worth noticing, doesn't mean I think the same about you."

"Is he always like this?" Lana asked. Byra shrugged.

"They're planning some sort of trap around people who might come to rescue Glinda."

"We've figured that out already, actually." Lana snapped. Byra frowned. It wasn't like Lana to be so irritable. Then again, it had been a long day.

"Did Amira give you any details?" Byra asked.

"I haven't spoken to her since Ortibonitatem." He said curtly.

Byra frowned. The conversation that they had had earlier had caused Byra to assume that Amira and Tyron kept in touch regularly. "What? Why?"

"Because it's dangerous." He said. " _She's_ dangerous. It was reckless of me to approach her to begin with."

Byra hesitated. Should she suggest he spy on Amira? How would he respond if she did. Did she have the right to try to pressure him into risking his life like that? But then, he already was risking his life by helping them…

"They're here to help rescue Glinda." Boq said tersely, his eyes darting between the witch- Elphaba- and Tyron. "Can you get us in?"

"Us?"

"Just because we're working together doesn't mean I trust you." He growled. "As long as you're in my city, you're not leaving my sight. Understand?"

" _You're_ city?"

"If she wanted to destroy the city, she you wouldn't be able to stop her." Lana said fiercely.

"I'm at your disposal, but my lunch break's almost over." Tyron cut in. "I can only stay for a few more minutes. If there's something you need me for-"

Elphaba hesitated. "When can you come back?"

"My shift ends in a couple of hours. I'll come back then." With that, he left. Elphaba watched him go, biting her lip.

Lana turned towards her. "You're letting him go? He's not that much older than us!"

"I know. I know. I still haven't decided whether or not to involve him or not."

"He already is involved." Said Boq. "He's a good person." He didn't say, 'And you're not', but everyone in the room heard it anyway.

"Enough." This wasn't helping. Byra tried to think of what to say that would convince her, remembering what Tyron had told her earlier. "We've already been through this. Everyone is here because we choose to be. Everyone has a stake in this. You don't have to go at it alone."

"I'm more than capable of doing so."

"You're _Elphaba_." Elphias cut in. "What are you so afraid of?"

"That I'll lead you all to your death!" She snapped.

No one said anything for a moment.

"Mom-"

"You don't remember what it was like under the wizard. Do you think that- that it was glory or something? You're aunt was _murdered_ to lure me into a trap. Your father almost tortured to death. And little of anything I did made any difference in the end."

Fiyero spoke. "Look around, Elphaba. Everyone here believes in you. We know you're not evil." Boq started to say something, but Fiyero silenced him with a look, surprisingly effective considering that he was a scarecrow. "This isn't like last time. I know you don't want to bring the kids-"

"I'm not a 'kid'." Said Lana irritably. It occured to Byra that Lana was the youngest person in the room, but she didn't say anything.

"I know you don't want to take the new generation, but at least take me-"

"Because that worked out so well last time."

"It worked out wonderfully. I got to marry a smart, brave, beautiful woman and retire to a warm climate where it never rained."

Elphaba gave a grudging smile. Byra watched, startled. No one had told her that the Wicked Witch of the West could smile.

"Take me, Shartine, the Lion, and Boq with you." He said.

"And Tyron." Said Boq. "You can't get into the palace without him anyway."

"How old is he?" Elphaba asked

"23."

"That's older than you were when you first defied the wizard." Fiyero pointed out.

"How old were you?" Byra asked.

"21."

Byra started to say that she was also that age, but Lana spoke over her. "Fine. Elphias, Byra and I will just stay here then."

Elphaba looked suspicious, but she nodded. "Alright. We'll talk about this more when Tyron comes back."

"Wait a minute-" Elphias started to say.

"We don't have a lot of experience with this sort of thing, and we don't want our parents to have to worry about protecting us on top of everything else." Lana argued.

Elphias flinched. "Of course. I understand."

Lana watched him. "You're mad at me."

"I'm not mad at you."

"Elphias-"

"No, I understand. You and your mother and Byra are brilliant with magic, Boq and your father are invincible, the Lion and my father are brave and skilled fighters, and Tyron can get them into the castle, and I'm worthless." He spoke quickly, something in his voice oddly matter-of-fact, then turned and left the room.

Lana followed, calling after him, "What? It doesn't matter if you're good at magic, me and Byra aren't going either."

Byra hesitated, and then decided to follow the duo. They ended up in the room that Elphias had recuperated from when he had been there earlier.

"It's fine. You don't have to explain yourself to me-"

Lana closed the door. "Listen. I didn't mean what I said back there, we are all going to help rescue your mother."

Elphias blinked. "What?"

"They'll never let us come with them. They still see us as kids. The only way we can come is if we follow without them realizing." She hesitated. "That is, if both of you still want to help…"

Byra smiled. "What's the plan?"


End file.
